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Good to have you join the forum.
The club has looked into this and run the numbers on it. The only way it would work is if you could find a place where the rent was really low and you would have to augment your income with sales of cars, parts and accessories both in-store and on-line.
As far as tracks are concerned, everyone will have their own opinion but I can say from our experience and looking at what tracks around the States and the world have been successful I would look to have:
Construction: routed wood with magnetic braid
Lanes: between five and eight
Length: between 100 and 200 feet
Layout: as equal of lane length as possible, elevation changes, at least 4″ lane spacing, landscaping optional but it does add a lot to the look of the track.
It would be great if you could come by the track when we are all there and let’s see if we could work together to help you make this happen.
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Thanks for the reply. I have approx 3500 square feet above an existing business that I have no use for. Its not a strip mall type location but not sure that matters much, we are located in Pflugerville and I am more or less retired so I am not expecting to make a livig at it, but I do not want to be sitting there on a saturday worried about having enough racers show up to have a good race. I am thinking wood track and hopefully two if I can squeze two in my space. I have not been into slots since I was a teen racing up off Braker Lane and that was more that a few years ago so that also has me worried as it would take a while for me to catch up on everything in the hobby again.
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Like Marty (porsche917) said, it would be best if you could come by the club. This Saturday we have a race around 11am, we should be done by noon – good time to stop by.
I used to race what you probably know as slot cars: 1/24 scale with metal chassis and lexan bodies, normally raced on a highly banked track sprayed with traction enhancers. Well, things have changed; 1/32 plastic chassis & body cars are the new thing, these are “almost perfect” 1/32 replicas of real cars, sometimes with working lights and, nowadays, able to change lanes (know as digital slot racing). The new tracks followed suit, the large banked tracks aimed for speed have given way to “slower”racing, more real life accurate tracks, loaded with scenery.
I would say that you need to dust-off your trigger finger and get the slot car juices flowing before anything else. Come by the track and we will give you a full tour.
Regarding racers showing up: with a good track and a well though-off set of classes & rules, I believe this will not be a problem.
Ary.
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Ary,
Thanks for the comments, this is one of my problems, to be successful I thing I would have to have a couple of tracks, one for the scale racers and then one for the “old school guys”. I think this would add diversity to the raceway and bring in a larger customer base. I might even throw in a drag strip. Hope three different types of racers can get along with one another.
I am hoping to make it to Kings tonight to check out what your club is doing, Thanks for the invite.
Tom
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That is the real question. Does the King’s Hobby Shop track count as a commercial raceway? I believe the answer is yes, as there is a fee to play on it for non-members of the ASCC. My trailers have been operating around Austin for 2 years now, and the Races2U Brick and Mortar store has been open since May, with our Grand Opening June 1st. So far, it is supporting itself, but not making the owner (me) any money. BTW, my rent is very low, and I am augmenting my income with soda machines, pinball, video games, and a skill crane on top of the car, track, and internet sales. I would love to see more people get involved in the hobby, and would welcome growth and competition. However, I can say that even with tens of thousands of dollars dumped into marketing, the results have been less than overwhelming. And that’s even with a ton of publicity, including being on the local news several times. It’s not true that if you build it, they will come. They have to know about it first. If you are not readily visible, how will they find you? If you do want to build a commercial raceway, be aware that the rent is only a small portion of your expense. Utilities are not cheap, and employees can get really expensive. Also, there is never ending maintenance and replacement of cars and controllers. Don’t forget that you probably want to make some money, too. As with the ASCC, you are welcome to drop by my store any time, and I am happy to share my experience with you as well. So- can Austin support a (or more than one) commercial raceway? I sure hope so!
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Tom- that sounds really exciting. I will bring up the topic in our next meeting.
** If at all possible, it could be very helpful if you came down to Kings one Saturday and discussed your plans with some of us. Check our calendar for when we are racing.
QUESTIONS
1. What specific help do you need? Moving logistics, final assembly, electrical, touch-up repairs, timing system setup etc?
2. When do you forecast a grand opening? Spring 2018? Will this be a for-profit storefront?
3. Are you planning to have any of the tracks ‘dry’ for 1/32 racers?
4. Kingman = BlueKing?
5. I can provide specific help with the dragstrip – I have experience running on the DSC track in Garland, my own portable track and other related experiences.
6. Where is the location in Pflugerville? -
Here is a link to the tracks. https://www.facebook.com/AmarilloSlotCarRaceway/
The location is on Grand Ave Pkwy.
I hope to have the space ready to move the tracks in by the first of the year. -
Thanks Tom. How can we communicate directly? me=mark_a_lucas37@hotmail.com
So, sorry but I am still not clear on any details:
— You are moving/moved to Austin from Amarillo?
— If you are moving the tracks in by early 2018, what is your estimated timeline for completing assembly and installation (May?) and grand opening (June?)
— *What Help Do You Need*
— Will you include a retail storefront, and/or will that come later TBD?
— I got the Grand Ave part-but will this be on top of the concrete company?
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— Will 1/32 cars be supported by having at least one road track glue-free?-
He lives in ATX. He got the Kingman track from Amarillo. (its not a BlueKing but is a banked track).
Location will be on top of his paintball proshop (Outlaw?) Will have a retail parts counter.
Flat track may be dry (or cleaned for any 1/32 races we have there).
He needs to build out the room in Jan before moving in the track (already stored locally). He will let is know if he needs any specific help.
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I can’t wait to see it all come together. I am very interested in the flat track and would help out in any way to make sure its all it can be and will be a great alternative to our track and to driving to Dallas all the time. It would be great to have a series with the Dallas and Tyler clubs if the track is nice enough to support it. Looking forward to running the 1/24 ScaleAuto cars again. Tom, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need any help.
Marty
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Wow! Looks great Tom. Until ASCC formed, slot cars were a solo hobby for me. I had my own tracks in the Sixties–there were no commercial tracks around. I was not part of the wing car racing in the Seventies and Eighties, so I have not had the opportunity to race much on big tracks. Looking forward to it!
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Tom, looks Great! I am doing some fresh solder on my 1/24 drag cars to get ready, as well as a Flexi and Wingee (mass of a wing-car and thingee) for trying all the tracks out.
–Just curious, what will be your “sand-trap” for the drag strip? Some people use a nylon bag, others a net, other a foam trap.
–Are you using a single power-supply for all lanes, or splits (1 ps per two or three lanes?) For the strip are you using a battery system with 16volts or a single power supply?
–Are you thinking about leagues or ad-hoc races, or simply renting track time until interest grows?-
For the power on the drag we have a 90 amp bulldog on each lane with a capacitor, the trap we will have to figure out what works best.
The oval and kingleman will have one supply for four lanes.
We would like to get some races going asap but we will have to see how much interest we have from racers.
The last track is getting its paint this week, we have 4k feet of braid waiting to get laid.
The tracks were using the old SRT timing system, we have a couple of lapmater systems on the way to replace the old system, the strip has trackmate timing.
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Tom – the Shutdown and trap area are important and tricky. Alot of damage can occur to cars if the shutdown does not slow the cars and if the trap allows cars to fall on the floor.
If you are running glue the combination of the glue (heavier than the light glue used on the running surface) and shorted-rails provide braking. If you are Not using glue you may need to consider embedding block magnets (available from HaborFreight for 99c a pair) into routed holes in the wood next to the rails. These slow the cars by attracting the motor can and any steel in the chassis. Based on my experience you will need several pairs of magnets 5 to 10 pairs per lane spaced about 3-inches apart from the previous pair. #97505, #98406
https://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of-2-ceramic-block-magnets-97504.htmlSince you ran out of room for a “bag/net” you may need to experiment with a ‘box’ made out of foam, such as used for pool floats (small life jackets and boxing practice helmets). The purpose of the box is to prevent cars from bouncing out onto the floor.
https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/trc-recreation-texas-tech-university-sunsation%C2%AE-pool-float#repChildCatid=3812642
https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/trc-recreation-kids-texas-a-m-university-super-soft%E2%84%A2-life-vest#repChildCatid=3812624 -
So, last weekend 4/7/19 Capitol had a run-what-ya-brung race organized by a local 1/24 fan. It was announced on the Facebook page and the regional slot car board (slotcars.net). Appx 10-12 racers showed up; after test and tune qualifying ran up close to 5pm (normally closing time), then 8 intense 5 minute heats. The rack seems more stable than a few weeks ago, not sure if they added more glue or straightened out the hairpin; altho there were still several de-slots in the inside hairpin. Wings and door-stops with high fins were the preferred cars. Best laps were all in the upper 3s (3.8-9). The counter has new product, and Chris is in process of repairing several rental cars and controllers. They also have a sorely needed pack of Parma lane stickers, but need to post a standard rotation.
The drag strip is operational. The only 2 reasons I can guess as to why the tree is so far down the track are (1) it’s position is less distracting to the wing/road racers, (2) it’s distance makes it extremely hard to see the guy in the next lane via peripheral vision (i.e. a good result). Working out the gluing strategy seems to be a work-in-progress.
The driver-stations I thought they were going to add are still not installed; I have cobbled together a hanging tray for my controller and an extended XLR to gator adaptor with extra large clips to fit the rectangular u-bolts. They claim a website is up but all I can find is the board: http://slotcars.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=32 -
Fresh cars! New blue LMP with aluminum chassis with new Hawk-7 (48k) motor; has ran a very smooth 100+ laps. Corrected red wing car with Phoenix (extremely high torque, RPM > 50k) motor, new drivertain (original was all FUBAR by assembler), fresh tires & guide. In process of the “art” of weight tuning both!
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My original purple LMP was 2nd in the concours back in June – but she’s a little porky and the best she did was 3rd in a race in July (lots of luck involved there!) As of 2 weeks ago the motor is end of life and chassis is being re-purposed for a NASCAR-truck (with a fresh Hawk-7 and complete re-build – guide, wires, drivetrain, tires/wheels).
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CONTROLLER TUNING – With my fresh cars (totally new or with new Hawk-7 motors) my lap count and times improved, but there were still some tricky corners where a de-slot was always a high-risk, esp. in the Hairpin and leading into the Donut. When my finger was a little “too early” after a turn- a power-out (wheelie) would occur.
A major factor is the relatively Low braking-force of the Hawk-7 – it has high RPMs (48k) but spins like a Slot.IT orange-bell (not much torque/magnet force) [in contrast- a Phoenix has so much torque that if you clean/glue the tires too forcefully the pinion will bite corners off the Spur!]
A few months back I was having inconsistent results from my DeFalco controller, even after experimenting with different resistor packs (e.g. 180, 220 -vs- the 280ohm used on the ASCC track). I had smoother results overall with a Koford 3-ohm controller with a simple brake pot (no pulsing circuit). However, with the faster motors and lighter chassis there was simply so little braking (esp. during a Yellow/Track-call) that control in the most tricky corners was always a gamble.
So recently I dusted off the DeFalco and played again with the chips – settled on the 220. VIOLA! Wow! I now had smooth and reliable braking in the worst corners, dropped at least 0.2 sec lap times and placed at least 2 places up than average in two different classes (GTP, LMP).
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