When he turned 40 Miles DeCoster bought five table-hockey sets. They were the kind with players controlled by rods and knobs; three had players made of sheet metal the rest were plastic, and the rinks were all different sizes. For more than a year Miles spent practically every night running passing drills alone down in his girlfriend’s basement. He would have been unbeatable if he’d had any competition, but his girlfriend wouldn’t touch the game and he couldn’t find anyone else to play with. When they broke up he left the hockey sets behind.
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Miles color-coded the slots: yellow, red, blue, and black. Since the inside slots, red and blue, are supposed to be best, the cars will rotate among them. They’ll run half-hour heats in each slot with 20-minute breaks in between. The long breaks are needed to allow the cars to cool off, because a half hour of 700 mph racing gets the metal on the bottom hot enough to burn your fingers. It can also hurt the car. Miles has bought pit equipment, which he’s laid out on a table next to the track. He’s got a complete set of extra parts for each car and a hypodermic needle for oil injections.
The entrance fee is ten bucks. Miles says it’s to cover expenses, but that’s a lie. The $30 he’ll collect from the other three teams won’t even come close. Maybe it’ll cover the beer and pizza. Miles plans to give out certificates to all the racers and award a trophy to the winner. He doesn’t actually have the trophy yet, but he promises to award it “as soon as I find one.”
He set it up on the first floor of their place near Clark and Addison. The old cars still ran.
It’s made a comeback lately, mainly among men in their 30s and 40s who raced when they were kids. The number of tracks in the U.S. has risen steadily each of the last five years. A wealthy Belgian named Jean Pierre van Rossem sponsors a world championship that attracts hundreds of racers from around the world. This year he’ll fly the world’s top racers to Bruges to compete for $100,000 in prize money. He also pays for their hotel rooms. “A couple of years ago van Rossem gave a real Ferrari to the champion,” Miles laughs. “He’s kind of eccentric.”
“You’re tired,” he explains.
By about 11 PM it’s becoming obvious that no one will endure the night. No one but Miles wants to race till noon Sunday. He proposes one more rotation, one more time in each slot for each car. Blue has been the top slot of the day. All those who raced more than three heats had their best time in it. Bob has it next. Miles runs blue after. This gives Miles an advantage, but Bob agrees that one more rotation is fair. He thinks he can catch up and build a lead on blue, then hold off Miles at the end. He’s almost right.
