Slot car tracks for hobby racing can be made from pre-molded plastic, clip-on section sets, or hardwood, fiberboard, or chipboard. They can be oval, figure eight, or real-world track representations. Commercial tracks are used for championship races and world record attempts. HO scale setups and cars are also popular for competitive racing.
The hobby sport of slot car racing features different types of track depending on the required use, location and permanence of the facility. Slot car tracks can be made from pre-molded plastic, clip-on section sets, or pieces of hardwood, fiberboard, or chipboard for more permanent track installations and competition tracks. They usually take the form of ovals, figure eights, or representations of real-world tracks. Real-world track representations are usually built to match the scale of the cars to be used so that realistic track times and speeds can be calculated.
Injection molded plastic slot car rails are normally only used in home installations. They can include chicanes, uneven surfaces and even jumps. Race tracks may not include any of these types of additions and may only include sections with bridges and banked turns as found on real-world race tracks.
Race tracks are most commonly formed from solid sections of hardwood, fiberboard, or chipboard, where the slots for the cars are created with a routing tool. This method of construction allows you to create a smooth and even surface. Generally, this type of slot car track is only found in permanent installations at designated racing centers.
Many of the permanent commercial tracks are used for championship races and world record attempts. In some racing track installations, the tracks are coated with polymer or epoxy paint or resin. Sometimes, recessed electrical contacts are incorporated into the track design.
Most 1:24 scale racing tracks feature between six and eight lanes laid out. One notable style of competition track is known as King track. They are flat tracks where winged slot cars are used. One of the most famous King-style slot car racing tracks is Blue King, where the 2007 world record for 1:24 scale racing was set at an average speed of 75.2 miles per hour (121 kilometers per hour). Now).
Another popular form of competitive slot car racing occurs with HO scale setups and cars. HO scale slot car tracks are smaller, and competition variants are commonly constructed from injection molded and clipped plastic sections. While this style of slot car racing is still referred to as HO scale, the cars used are actually closer to a scale of 1:64 due to the larger size of the vehicle’s engine installations; however, the tracks used in this racing department retain the true HO scale of 1:87 in most cases.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
