# "Nascar" Track design questions



## txronharris (Jun 1, 2005)

Howdy all. Just joined up and I've been thinking about doing up a HO scale NASCAR type layout. Here's some thoughts/questions:

Would building the track out of wood be the preferred method? I've seen some things online about guys building the tracks from scratch that seem cool, but VERY time consuming. 

I've been thinking about a 4 car track on about a 4x8 base and since most of the superpeedways are almost the same design, racing and changing the tracks to match the prototype. It wouldn't take that much more track to do that and it would offer some variety. I don't like road courses!

The Life Like stock cars seem to be the best performance for the dollar. If I go buy a Life Like stock car and go to the local club to race, will I get "it" handed to me by guys that have modified their cars in some way? Are the other stock cars that are better than Life Like? 

There are a couple local tracks here near Dallas, but the NASCAR racing is done on a track thats basicly a "U" within a "U" with no banking. They do stock cars and trucks, so that's pretty cool. Would a racing league with more like what I'm interested in doing with my own track be something others would be interested in? Think about a series where each week you race a version of each speedway and have a champ at the end. Sounds really good to me. 

Thanks for taking a look at my questions and I look forward to you guys feedback!


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## bigun624 (May 11, 2005)

I have 2 tracks right now both are oval with no banking. Both are on 4x8 tables. My preferred car for racing and using for birthday parties is the lifelike m chasis. I also have a bunch of tyco 440x2. Just got some g plus cars havnt run them yet. 1 of my tracks is built with tyco track and the other with tomy track . I have the plans for a tri oval. I'm not much for road courses either. My 2 both have short shoots like indy. If you start a club you can create your own rules, all of my cars are left stock with the exception of silicone rear tires. Most of the building and supplies came from www.hoslotcarracing.com . He also has a section on a routed wooden track, he has always been very helpful. Also try www.xp77.com/heister/. If kids are gonna be running the oval is alittle easier to drive. 4x8 will allow it to be portable, I set mine on saw horses and have taken it to several cub scout meetings. another good site is www.homeracingworld.com . All the people on the board in every scale are very helpful, and it doesnt have the politics that some of the ho scale boards do. Well i have rambled enough, by the way i'm about 365 miles north of you in amarillo tx.


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## TK Solver (Mar 18, 2004)

You will need a much longer table than 4x8 if you want to create HO scale replicas of most NASCAR tracks. I think you need close to 75 feet of track per mile. This week's NASCAR race in New Hampshire features a track where each straight is about a quarter-mile long. That equates to over 18 feet of HO scale track. If you'd be content with a replica of Martinsville, your straights could be closer to 9 or 10 feet each.

The driver of the car in the outside lane has an advantage on oval slot car tracks because they can enter the corner faster and maintain more speed through the corner. That advantage far offsets the difference in track length in the inside lane. That's one of the reasons why you saw that "U within a U" track in Dallas. The car on the outside in the outer U switches to the inside on the inner U. If you run an oval, you'd probably want to have everyone change lanes after "pit stops" so everyone puts in time on each lane.

The scale speed of a Life Like car is as much as five times faster than a NASCAR car. Ryan Newman's 2003 record qualifying lap in New Hampshire was at an average of about 130 mph and took about 26 seconds. A Life Like car would scream around your 75 foot oval in about 5 seconds, during which time you'd flex your index finger a couple times to accelerate down the straights. It would be a quite a rush for a few laps if your track was nice and smooth... I'd probably prefer using less powerful cars so that more driving skill was involved. I think the X-Traction speeds would be best and the cars would probably look more realistic than the Life Like blobs. But X-Traction NASCAR replicas aren't available commercially, yet.

In my opinion, anyone looking to simulate a NASCAR season should consider one of the available video games. The cost to try to model it with slot cars would be significantly higher and still wouldn't account for many of the subtleties that are so important to the NASCAR experience. Building an HO replica of an indivual track would be great but I'd suggest setting your sites on tracks of one mile or shorter, with something like Martinsville the most doable.


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## txronharris (Jun 1, 2005)

Thanks for the response and the links. So I've been looking around again and the 1/32 cars look like they might be a better choice than HO scale. Lots more decals available and the cars look better. What's the scoop on those? What about track choices there?


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## TK Solver (Mar 18, 2004)

Double the track size. Got a BIG basement?


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## txronharris (Jun 1, 2005)

Ok. 1/32 is definately out then. What about the other questions about the track. Is custom wood track the way to go?


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## TK Solver (Mar 18, 2004)

If you're new to slot cars, I'd recommend starting out with a Tomy Super International set to get a feel for how everything works. Buy some cars of different types and see how they handle on it. After you get that hands-on experience and hang out with some of the people on this board for awhile you'll know if you want to invest in more track or build a custom one. Take it slow at first and let it come to you. The Tomy SI set has lots of different track types included and is a good value for getting started.

There are some threads in this Track Building section that address your questions very thoroughly. Keep browsing and you'll find a lot in here. Guys like AFXToo have been very generous with their time and you'll learn a lot from those posts.


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## car guy (Nov 22, 2003)

Try this one....http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/attachment.php?attachmentid=18652


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

*Making your own track? Oval?*

I find this really interesting for making your own track...
http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/WoodenTrack.html
I just would not run strong magnet cars on it...
(Panthers, Patriots, G3s, ect)
They might pull the rails out of the grooves.

Routing just an oval should not be that hard..  
Scott


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## Manning (Mar 2, 2004)

Track......
Before you commit to the 4x8, mock up the track on the floor. You will be surprised how small it is. Just one more foot makes a noticeable difference. A 1/32 track that is limited to a 4x8 would be waaaaayyy too small. 

A 4x8 limits the straight to about 5 feet long. About the only thing that will get to top speed on that straight is a lame T-jet. 

My point is (like a few other posters before me).......Make the track as big as you possibly can.

Cars.....
My opinion.....SG+'s are crazy fast, a reasonably well sorted stocker with silicone rear tires and no other mods is just plain super fast. A dark colored car becomes a barely visible blur. 

SRT's have too much magnet downforce for the power they have, they deslot with almost no warning. They drive a little funny, IMO. 

I recently got a few 440X2's. With a set of SG+ front tires, .450" silicone rears, they are a nice balance of speed and handling. The NASCAR cars look really good. 

Never run LL cars. The few I've seen are just too goofy looking. The new Dodge NASCAR cars may change my mind. Need to see them in person first. 

Tjets can't be beat for the tinker factor. Fun to drive.

My overall favorite cars are the JL Xtractions. O ring front tires, and silicone rears makes for a fun car. You can see them sliding. A good one is plenty fast.


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## rodstrguy (Feb 14, 2002)

Noddaz,

you can run magnet cars all day long on that type track, no trouble unless you made a mistake running groves for rails, then all you have to do is fill in slot with a little extra paint. No problem for SG+'s.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

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## txronharris (Jun 1, 2005)

Thanks for all the great replies guys. I can better understand what's going on now. Where are these other typse of cars available (440x2, super g, tjets, srt's, jl xtraction, etc.)? I've never heard of these. I agree that the LifeLike cars aren't the best in the reality department, but I haven't seen any other stock cars out there. Rodsrtguy, that "shaundega" track is excatly what I was talking about. I know it's way bigger than what I've got in mind, but that's what I'd like to do. Thanks for the link. I'll see if I could go to a 5x9 space. Thanks again for all you guys comments!


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## car guy (Nov 22, 2003)

440's are Tyco/Mattel
Super G+'s, SRT's are Aurora
JL X-traction are repro Aurora's

All of these are available online.


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## txronharris (Jun 1, 2005)

Thanks for clearing that up for me car guy. Hey, I just noticed some of the model train suppliers I deal with also sell slot cars and accessories (Yes I play trains too--Nscale). This may make this happen quicker than I thought. Maybe it's time for my train business to branch out into slot cars?! Is starting up a slot car side of the business (it's internet only) even worth my time?


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

txronharris said:


> Thanks for clearing that up for me car guy. Hey, I just noticed some of the model train suppliers I deal with also sell slot cars and accessories (Yes I play trains too--Nscale). This may make this happen quicker than I thought. Maybe it's time for my train business to branch out into slot cars?! Is starting up a slot car side of the business (it's internet only) even worth my time?


 
I guess that you could race trains instead an save some money.
Nawwwwwwwww....
Scott


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## Captain Fred (Feb 19, 2000)

You could get yourself a set of Tyco Turbo trains and race them on your slotcar track. They use the Tyco 440x2 wide chassis.


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## bigun624 (May 11, 2005)

Hey ron you might try this website www.bradstracks.com he sells a track building booklet, ive never seen it but i heard it has alot of useful stuff in it.


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## bigun624 (May 11, 2005)

He's the one that built shaunadega


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

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