MY H.O. STORY!  HELLO and Welcome to West Coast Slot Cars!  My name is Marc and I have been racing HO slot cars since I was 8 years old.  I lived near a Sears department store and I remember around Christmas time, their toy shop would open and that is where this fun addiction began.  They had an AFX display track set up at the front and there was always an employee demonstrating the set.  I thought to myself, hey that's what I want to do when I get older, but I was led on a different path.  I got my first slot car set and I never really lost my interest through the years.  Most of my childhood friends had slot car tracks in the neighborhood and we would spend hours upon hours slot car racing.  I even worked mowing lawns and washing cars to scrape up money to buy new slot cars.  Those were some of the BEST memories of my past and I am just as excited about racing today as I was back then.
This picture was taken of me in January 1977.  Just like most kids at that time, we played in our rooms when the weather wasn't so good.  My friends came over with their cars and the racing began!!  We would take them apart, put them back together and talk about which cars were better than the others.  "GUM DROPS", which was the name of the rear silicone tires at the time, was the only upgrade that we used.  What a difference it made from the sponge foam tires that came stock on every car and our racing skills improved because of the better rear tires.
This was my 2-lane floor set up back in 2000 with timed heat races.....what a blast!!  I moved some furniture aside, built a track, and invited some of my buddies over for a day of racing.  I eventually built some 4-lane layouts so we could all race at the same time.  It grew into a small slot car club which I called Barrington Raceway and we met on a monthly basis.  We all looked forward to our next race to see who's cars were the fastest and it became a fun social event for us all.	As my interest in slot car racing grew stronger, I wanted to build my "DREAM TRACK" and I began to explore my options and compare prices.  After much dicsussion within our club and hours of researching, I decided that MaxTrax would be my best option.  I contacted the owner, sent in my deposit, and I couldn't wait to get my new MaxTrax 4-lane 4'x16' H.O. slot car track!!  The day it came seemed like a childhood dream come true.....finally!!!  I unpacked it, set it up on the floor, and sat just looking at it for hours, but the real task lay ahead of me despite my overwhelming joy.  Time to build the board, get it wired, install a slot car timer, and start racing again.  It took a little longer than I had anticipated, more like 3 months to be exact.  Is it done yet, is it done yet?
It was finally finished!  I had to give it the real test.....a birthday party!!  I decided to make my layout portable so I could move it around if needed.  This option allows for easy transportation and storage because it was just a matter of time before we needed to reclaim our parking spaces in the garage.	...And then the Culver City Car Show!  This turned out to be the best place to get this hobby back into the public eye!!  So many remarked on how they once raced slot cars when they were kids.  Who said that you ever had to stop?
Another blessing has recently arrived on January 20, 2009!  History has once been made with the birth of my first Son, or should I say "little racer"!  I know he seems a bit young, but I was hoping that he didn't wait till he was 8 to get his hands on some H.O. slot cars.  The new AFX Mega-G seemed to be the perfect product, since my first set was an AFX too!!	So, there's my story behind my obsession!  My objective is to get as many people as I can back into this hobby, and all that share this hobby will also have a good story to tell your family, friends, co-workers, or anyone that might lend you an ear.  I am counting on you to spread the word...H.O. SLOT CAR RACING is still around.  It is bigger, better, and even more fun than before with the availibility of so much product on the internet.  There are still a few of you out there with track in your attic, in the box, just waiting to be played with again!!  Or you might be the "secret slot car racer" behind closed doors because you are afraid to tell anyone.  Well, I just have one thing to say....STOP IT!  This is a hobby worthy of sharing.  You just might look out your window one day and see the POLICE Hummer waiting to take you back to your childhood bliss!!  If you would like to contact me please go to the West Coast Events page and I would be happy to hear your story.  If you live in the Los Angeles area or you are visiting and you want to talk about H.O. Slot Car Racing, call me anytime.  Happy Racing from West Coast Slot Cars!!!!!