John Cukras, one of the most famous of the salaried professional slot car racers from "the heyday" of the late 1960s has passed away due to complications from recent lung surgery.
John was a heavy smoker during much of his life and most period photos show him with a cigarette held in his mouth while racing.
John was said to be paid a salary somewhere between $30,000 and $50,000 ($233,881.44 to $389,802.40 in 2020s dollars) a year for racing slot cars and various product development activities for San Leando's (CA) Mura slot car products owned by Ron Mura. Mura was at one time a well-known producer of slot car motors and other components.
The story goes that John at one time worked or consulted for Aurora plastics company and had a hand in the design of what became the A/FX line of HO slot cars that were enjoyed by millions. John was also involved in the design of the later G-Plus and Mega G-Plus HO scale slot cars.
John's fellow Pro racers felt that John was as close to a "natural" racer as anybody then or now. John was without question a force to be reckoned with in any 1/24th scale race he entered.
John really made his mark in 1966, winning the first "East-West" race sponsored by Bob Rule's Champion of Chamblee (GA) and held in Memphis, TN. This race was one of only 3 national championship races run with open-wheel or "formula" style scale race cars before the aerodynamic advantages of Can-Am style sports car scale bodies were realized.
Cukras was one of a handful of participants invited to visit Elvis Presley's hobby room at Graceland featuring a full-size 8-lane commercial slot car track.
John also took a well-deserved victory at the "Hemisphere" race in July 1968 held in San Antonio, TX. Winning this race made John the undisputed best of the best Number One slot car driver and builder in the world.
Model Car Journal described the Hemisphere race as "...violent, blazingly fast, immensely destructive sort of racing and nobody is better at it than Cukras". John's victory earned him $350.00 in cash which would be over $2,600.00 in 2020s dollars. The Hemisphere race IIRC was the first "pro" race won using the modern style Parma/Russkit pistol grip hand controller. Previous races were won with various types of thumb-operated controller.
John was the subject of an article written by Leon "Dutch" Mandel and published in Car and Driver magazine in early 1969. The article was entitled "Soooooo-krus...The Sound of Teenage Money" and was one of the best-known writings about the hobby/sport in mainstream media. The article is an interesting read and can be found in PDF form with a little web searching.
John was one of the members of the Southern California racing community that came up with the framework for "retro" slot car racing which eventually spread across the country and the world.
Cukras participated in an all-star retro race held at Buena Park (CA) Raceway in 2008 with many past Pro racers of legendary driving and building ability.
A few years ago on the Slotcar Superstar blog John wrote:
"I had what it took for this type of competition. Hand-eye coordination, depth perception, model-building skills, perseverance, super steady nerves, and a love of racing. The big races I competed in and often won were long events with hundreds of entries. One main event at a big race finished at 8:00 a.m. Easter Sunday morning after racing all through the previous night!"
A giant of our hobby/sport has left us. Godspeed "John the Jet".
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