2026 Slot Car classes discussion

My proposal for a 2026 series is simple:

Pre-War El Piloto running ScaleAuto GP124 Classic cars from the 1937-1939 Season

• H2 Series
• All cars will be mechanically prepared by one person. The preparer's laps will be limited to the minimum necessary to confirm stability and mechanical viability at the start of the series, and after any maintenance required between races.
• All cars will be painted in a historically accurate livery. (Painting may be done by a person other than the one responsible for preparing the mechanicals.)
• Cars will remain in parc ferme' between races.
• Cars will be available for practice for up to 2 minutes to each racer on race day.
• Cars will be raced in the same lane for every heat at each race.
• Cars will rotate to a new lane at each race.
• Cars will be raced at 11.5v to 12.5v, to be determined during initial car preparation.
• Cars will may be auctioned to club members, distributed as prizes, kept for following season, or a combination of these dispositions at the end of the season. Subject to membership approval.

If the Targa Florio is viewed as a continuation, I would like to propose the NSR Porsche 997 Challenge. Rules below:

NSR Porsche 997 Challenge.
This is a Box-stock time-trial series featuring the NSR Porsche 997. The idea being the cars are as close to stock, and to each other as practical.
Stock chassis motor and pod, wheels, NSR tires. Can change out guide for another NSR guide, Ballast OK, that’s about it.
Race format: 60 laps on road track, (lane TBD by lot) or 40 laps on rally track.
Alternately for the road track , we race head-to-head, as usual, but set the software for 60 lap heats, not 5 minute heats.
Track choice to be determined by coin toss AFTER TECH.

Body
The body cannot be modified in any way.
The stock plastic cockpits and glass are mandatory
Lexan cockpits or glass are prohibited.
Body must start every heat with radiators, windows, and wings in their correct location.  If any of these items fall off during a heat they must be repaired before the next heat starts.
Antennas, mirrors, wipers, and tow hooks are not required and do not have to be replaced if they come off.
White kits are allowed but must be painted, or uniquely decaled.  At least two numbers must be visible.
Duplicate liveries are discouraged.
Body screws open choice.  These can be taped to prevent loss. Any car that loses a screw and causes an issue with a competitor’s car May have a 15 second penalty applied.
Chassis
No modifications to the chassis are allowed.
The stock NSR BLACK chassis must be used
Guide
NSR guides are mandatory.
Pick-up braids are open choice.
Guide spacers are open choice
NSR RED drop-arm mandatory. May be loose or fixed
Set Up
Wheel/tire must not be visible outside wheel-well/fender when viewed from above.
Guides may be trimmed and profiled.
Magnetic downforce cannot exceed (some arbitrary figure) grams.
Motor
Stock NSR Shark 21.5, or King 21/evo must be used
Lead wires and lead wire guide terminals are open choice.
 Motor Pod
NSR RED Sidewinder or Angle-winder motor pod required
The motor pod is prohibited from protruding below the chassis.
Flashing may be removed from the motor pod to allow better float. Excessive removal of material determined by the scrutineer.
Motor can be held in place with screws.  Screws are open choice.
Motors cannot be held in with tape or glue.
NSR stop/axle collars are allowed.
Spacers/washers are open choice.
NSR Bronze bearings mandatory
Pod screws are open choice.
Tape may be used to prevent the pod screws from falling out.
Tape over the motor pod to limit pod movement is not allowed.

Gears
NSR stock gearing mandatory

Wheels
NSR stock wheels mandatory
NSR wheel inserts are mandatory No inserts may incur a 15 second penalty
Axles
Only NSR axles are allowed.
Any modifications to axles (other than polishing) are prohibited.
Axle spacers and axle stops are allowed.
Tires
Front tires must be NSR
Front tires must be 8mm wide.
Rear tires can be any 10mm width NSR Supergrip or Ultragrip tire.
Tires may be glued to the wheels, trued, and have their edges rounded.
Traction compounds are prohibited.
Varnishing the front tires to make them slick is not allowed.

Track Power:
• Road track: 12v. Rally track: variable

For Targa I also have a new NSR Lola t280 yellow 12 and from the website about Targa I see my Porsche 914-6 is also raced in 1972.

Proposed rules for '70-'73targa. Scale calculation rule has even dropped, but will be looking into a limit of (2?) per event on any specific model. Any feedback welcome.

Targa Florio 1970-1973

This series will be run on the rally track. Direction will be determined by coin toss.
Track voltage is at entrant’s discretion.

Race Fees: $5 Premium members, $10 Standard members; $15 guests

Cars eligible:
Any car that was entered in the Targa Florio in the years 1970, ‘71, ’72, and ’73. Cars that were DNS, or DNF are fine. (Partial list will be provided later)

Models allowed: Any slot car that is a reasonably scale depiction of the above. Must be within 12% of 1/32 scale plus or minus. That is a 24% window. Thunderslot models, for example, are too over-wide, and are not eligible. Cars must have driver figure and Steering wheel. Lightweight interiors are okay. Glazing must be in place. If your car has a navigator figure, you do not need to remove it if you want to keep it un-modified. Historic liveries are not required, but very much encouraged. Avoid duplicate liveries if at all possible.

To avoid The series becoming too overloaded with a single model (Porsche 908/3, or the Lola T280/290, for example) We’re considering a limit to how many of a given model can race on a given race day. We want to se a more varied selection of entries this coming year

Please post a picture of your car (s) Model, or 1:1 to the rules thread, so we can get an idea of what cars and liveries will be entered.

Motor, gearing:
Open

Axles, wheels, tires:
Axles, bushings, bearings open. Wheels must be a good faith effort at scale, with inserts. Maximum wheel/tire width 10mm front and rear. (This may be subject to change)
Tires can be any rubber or urethane compound. Truing and gluing is encouraged. Coating of front tires with nail-polish, C/A glue, etc is permitted.

Chassis and drive layout:
Chassis must not scrape or rub track surface.

Braid, guide, and motor leads.
open

General  
If it is not mentioned – contact Series Manager for legality (BEFORE the first race).  Cars may be presented to Series Manager any time before the first race for a test inspection.

Here are some suggestions for 2026 Series.

El Piloto Series using NSR McLarens in the same colors as the lanes.

RevoSlot GT Series - use old rules  - lots of cars to choose from including the previously used Porsche GT2's.  Spec series

NSR GT3 Series - use old rules - lots of cars and livery's to choose from.  Spec series

Slot.it Group C - use old rules - lots of new cars, lots of livery's, people already know how to set them up. Spec series

NSR Porsche GT spec Series - use the GT rules from the previous GT3 series.  Spec series

BRM GT40/Ferrari P3 Series - new series using the same rules as the Group 2 cars - Spec series.

Targa '70-'73 Rally Series - similar rules to previous series.  Unlimited series

Fly BMW M3 E30 Series with spec 3D chassis - Between spec and unlimited series.  This could run on the rally track as well.

Scaleauto Hyper Car Series - new series - new rules TBD

Brian,

I love the idea of only one new class per member.  They can suggest any previously run class but only one new one that has a rules set that is 90% baked.

Marty

The outcome of our Sept 13 club meeting discussion regarding the nomination of 2026 series was the agreement that ALL proposed series must be accompanied by a near-final draft set of rules.

The proposed rules will be finalized during the October meeting to a point where members are comfortable making a decision on their vote before they will be allowed to appear on the ballot.

This new guideline will result in more discussion than in the past, especially for any new series, therefore I am recommending that each member nominate only one NEW series, and one previously run series with an existing ruleset.

I have been following the NSR Lola T280 for a 2026 class and the tariff kicked the price from the $88 to $110 with apology from Electric Dreams.  It looks like the price went up for cars not yet in stock.

I like the el Piloto race idea.  I would contribute to the expense of the cars and prep.

Here is a proposal for a series using both the rally and road tracks.

NSR Porsche 997 challenge. (Box stock series) Stock chassis motor and pod, wheels, NSR tires. Can change out guide for another NSR guide, Ballast OK, that’s about it.

Race format: 60 laps on road track,(lane TBD by lot) or 40 laps on rally track.

Track choice to be determined by coin toss AFTER TECH.

Maybe three 20 minute heats for the endurance race would make more sense, what with there being three lanes.

Last race some of us were kicking around the idea of an endurance race series. Here is an idea for that:

Slot.it Group C endurance race series

Spec series with car rules very close to, or identical to previous group C series.

Race format would be something like this. Races held on road track. There cars, Three teams, four 15 minute heats. I think that would be enough to give everyone a turn at the wheel.

Also, Would like to continue Targa Florio with the 1970-1974 epoch. Open series. Many cars that people have previously run in other series would be eligible, such as DeThomaso PAntera, BMW 2002, Renault Alpine A10, Lancia Stratos, Porsche 911, Fiat 124, Porsche 908, Alfa T33/3, and others.

Rules very similar to current series, but most likely doing away with the confusing scale calculation.

I want to take the membership’s temperature on the idea of having one El Piloto race next year.  That would be one quarter (or half-year if we chose that series) of just showing up to race.  Cars could be a surprise, we could vote, or draw one out of a hat.

The cars will be minimally prepared by a member to be as equal as possible. (To me that means basic tuning of a box-stock car.) Each member will race each car for one heat on race day.  e.g. The cars are bound to a lane and just the driver rotates.  Parc ferme' rules will apply between races with only necessary repairs allowed before being sequestered.  We can work all of those details out further if there is interest.

I want to say I also like the idea of a series that has 1 car racing on both tracks.  I think it's a good idea to keep both tracks to the same measurement:  total laps in a fixed amount of time; or a fixed amount of laps timed.  I defer to the more experienced in the group as I cannot see how we would have comparable metrics if we didn't apply the same to both tracks.

I'd also like to float the idea of having at least 1 stock series, maybe even Scaleys or Carreras, yeah... gripe gripe grumble grumble... they suck.  The thing is they'll suck the same for everybody and it could be fun.  I guess there's something I don't understand when it comes to griping about series we voted on.  We all have to stick to the same rules.  If we didn't, I'd totally understand.  My 2 cents.

This year we ran the ThunderSlots Lolas for a track race, then discovered the Lola Coups also ran in the real Targa Floria and ran the TS Coupes again on the rally track.  We also had Slot.It Ford GT40's from a track race to run on the rally track.  I like that coincidence and would like to have a race series in 2026 that purposely ran the same cars on both tracks.

Randy