Joe "Noose" Neumeister

It all started in the 60's during the heyday of slot racing when I started to use my talents to paint replicas of race cars as well as using my own designs.  At the age of 14 I was painting for individuals as well as some of the larger companies that used the bodies I painted on their Ready-To-Run slot cars.  After the leaving the hobby for almost 30 years, I came back to it during a recent resurgence in a class of racing that started up and is adequately named / known as Retro Racing. 

​

I started slot racing just like many others have when I got a Strombecker slot racing set as a Christmas present.  Then one day I discovered a commercial raceway and I was really hooked.  Growing up in NJ, we had a a place in almost every town. Those were the days.  Racing between the stores was the norm for then and this eventually grew into larger competitions. 

Two in particular stand out to me.  One was at the Car Model Championships held at the NY Coliseum and the other was a NAMRA race held at Tom Thumb Raceways in Union, NJ.

​

As the years went by, I became one of the team members of Team Nutley.  Nutley Raceway was one of the first tracks in the East to hold major championship races.  Mike Tango, Tony P, John Gorski, Bob Emott, Phil Ruben, Jerry Brady, Wayne Williams, Chris Vitucci, Big Jim Greenaway, Pete Von Ahrens and all the greats back then competed.  I left racing in 1971 at the age of 19 suffering from "the fumes" - those from real cars and the perfume of girls.  Around 1977ish I stopped by a local raceway run by Bob Emott and got to once again meet up with some old friends to include Tony P and Ernie Provetti.  It was in the back room of that shop that the now famous Trinity Company was formed.  I played around with some Womps and even a Group 27 car but then faded out of racing again.

​

In November 2006 I had a phone call that went like this:

Caller:  "Weeeeeeeee'rrrrrrrreeeeeee back"

Me:  Who's back and who the heck is this?

​

Well the caller turned out to be John Gorski Jr. of Gorski Controller fame and past Pro Racer.  He told me about this new class of racing happening in California and how he wanted to get it going here in the East.  I was game.  I met with John and the rush came back.  Within no time at all I was at the track with him and the airbrush was out.  We met up with Tony P and he got the excitement of reliving the fun of our youth hit home with him too.  That was the formation of East Coast Retro Racing group with us three as the founders.  Since then I am one of the founders of the International Retro Racing Association and now Retro East.

I started painting again.  My work now includes bodies, controller handles as well as other accessories. 

I hope you enjoy seeing some of my work and I'll CYA at the races!