Oval Track, Inside Lanes Vs. Outside Lanes

Oval Track, Inside Lanes or Outside Lanes, or Black Lanes Matter

By Chuck Hendricks

Am I the only one who sees how much shorter distance the inside lanes are on a slot car oval? Let’s just use simple math to find out just how much difference there is in distance traveled on the black lane on the inside versus the red lane on the outside. Of course I promised my somewhat slow brother that I would not make this too complicated so that he might understand. Rather than measure the distance of each lane, we will compare the difference in the distance traveled. Tim, I will summarize this near the end so that you can see the results. Just skip down to the next to last paragraph where the numbers and words are much smaller and easier to understand. The overall length of the straight is not in question as the length for each is the same no matter what lane.

For simplicity sake, let’s say the inside black lane has a 6 foot diameter average turn. The circumference of the turn is 6 ft times 3.1416 *(pi) resulting in a distance of 19 ft. The track should have 4 ½ inch lanes resulting in the Red lane having a 3 ft. larger radius or 6 foot larger diameter. Red has a  12 ft diameter multiplied by 3.1416 resulting in a 38 ft circumference that equals to a 19 ft greater distance to travel. Now you can see the greater distance traveled each lap and if multiplied by an average of 50 laps on red is an astonishing 950 ft or the same as an extra 12 laps of distance on the 75’ tri oval. You will have to go pretty fast on the outside lanes to make up the extra distance traveled. This extra distance is not really where I want to end this. There is also an “average” of ¼ second difference in the laps times from the black lane to the red lane by the fastest racers. These times are usually consistent and do not jump all over the place like some of the less experienced racers. Using the time as the measurement, ¼ second per lap results in the car on black lapping the car on red every 9.2 laps or 5. 6 laps in a race.. Hmm, I think something is afoot here and now the theorizing begins.

I have accumulated tons of data on a spread sheet that I keep from every race we have run for over a year. I was warned not to bore everyone to tears with “data” so I will just hit the most important information. Tim. If you didn’t skip to the next to last paragraph, this lack of “boring data” was written for you. I will relate the figures for each lane result of 8 racers in the Super Modified class at Charlie’s Garage in Pearl, MS. In this case I threw out the overall best lap on each lane and used the balance for my calculation. The list below shows the difference in best lap results taken off the mysterious, super secretive, boring data filled, racing spread sheet.

Black 4 laps, Purple 3 laps, Yellow 4 laps, Blue 4 laps, Orange 3 laps, Green 3 laps, White 1 lap, Red 2 laps

Tim. This is the next to last paragraph, so start reading here as there are no big numbers or words. Add up the 4 inside lanes and you get 15 laps. Do the same with the 4 outside lanes and the answer is 9 laps.  Here we have the possibility to make up 6 laps on the inside lanes versus the outside lanes. This matches the lap time variation resulting in a 5.6 lap difference from lap times. So, racers, where would you put your emphasis? I have been told that all lanes should have the same emphasis and that the inside or outside lanes should not matter. Also, I have heard the races are won on the outside lanes and that races are lost on the outside lanes. The following is my opinion of this topic based on my experience and not following my brothers rather simplistic guidelines.

There is a saying that goes “Make hay while the sun shines” and this is my thought every time I hit the inside lanes. I will give you the outside if I can stay within a couple laps because I know as soon as I get to the inside, I can make those back up and move ahead by even more laps. My favorite scenario is to start on orange, which means I run all 4 outside lanes first. The person on the inside lanes may take the lead and get cautious resulting in a few less inside laps run. Go ahead and do it next time too! I love it when that happens as I will not have to push it so hard when I get to the inside lanes. If I happen to start on the inside lanes, I will push it, “making hay” sort of, since I know the bigger lead gained on the inside lanes will result in less stress on me trying to keep up on the outside lanes but will put more stress on the other racers trying to make up the laps. At a recent race, racer “B” ran the inside 3 lanes first and had a 14 lap lead after the three rotations. At the end of the race his lead was 16 laps meaning there was a net gain of two laps on the other 5 lanes. The better racers will have an advantage on the inside as they seem to be harder to drive, or are they? The outside lanes are ran with the not as accomplished racers keeping within a couple laps of the faster racers, meaning they are easier. Are they? Are all the lanes equally as important? Listen up, work on the inside lanes and become a better racer. As soon as you can master these “tough” lanes, you will find yourself competing with the best racers. I will not tell you this is the absolute correct theory, but use your own judgment and maybe keep track of the results yourself. I firmly believe that oval races are won or lost on the inside lanes, where you can “make hay”!

 Footnotes: *Tim, you can’t eat this pi.

A Perfect Race At Charlie's Garage

I want to start this with an apology to the HO racing community. At the time I put out the "Perfect Race Challenge" I knew nothing about HO racing and had a bad impression of it.  Search for the post "HO Scale, An Impression Undeserved".  More about making amends to the HO community at the end of this post.  But now, I have a post to write about a perfect race.

Have you ever thought how difficult it is to run a perfect race?  A good while back I put out the challenge to find a perfect race.  I offered to write a post about it and let everyone who sees Slots New? find out about it.  It is that rare! I put a number of stipulations on it to prevent a set up type situation.  Some of those are as follows:
It had to be an organized race and not an impromptu affair.  There must be at least 4 racers on the track at the beginning and the end.  The person with the perfect race must finish on the podium.  Also the perfect race must result in a top 25% finish.  This means if only 4 are in the race the person also has to win to qualify.  If there were 8 in the race then the finish could be as low as 2nd.  The race must take place on a commercial grade track.  No scale below 1/32 would be allowed.  (This rule was made before I understood just what all was involved in HO).  The rotations must be a minimum of 2 minutes.  Break out classes are not accepted.  Upon reviewing the race if there is any sign of creating the circumstances for a perfect race, man-made or by accident, it will not be accepted.  If the race appears more like a practice run than a competitive race it will not be accepted.  It must be a fully competitive race.

 On Nov. 15th, 2018 a race was run by Chuck Hendricks at Charlie's Garage that meets these requirements.  It was run on an tri-oval track which really only has one turn you have to think about to make it around, but it was still a perfect race.  Chuck had been barking at this achievement for a while now.  In a previous race he was able to run the entire race with no de-slots until the last minute of the last rotation.  It was then another car came out of the slot and drifted in front of him ruining his effort.

The perfect race started with 5 cars on the 8 lane track only to have one pull out early due to mechanical difficulties.  This left the 4 required cars on the track to make it a qualified race.  I am sure if Chuck had thought about the qualifications for the race he would have been sweating another dropping out.  No one else dropped out and it was a competitive race.  Or, at least as competitive a race as you can have with Chuck racing at Charlie's Garage racing on the tri-oval.  Chuck has managed to latch on to almost all the records established at Charlie's Garage in Pearl, MS.

Chuck has been dominating at the track pretty much since he went to the Dungeon in Prattville, AL to race the first time.  The guys at the Dungeon are really good and can be competitive at any track they race at.  It was racing against these guys that Chuck learned about tuning a car to get more out of it and how much faster he could go through the turns.  He was finally starting to pick up on some of the things I had told him about for months.  It just took him hearing it from someone who was a better racer than me for him to take it to heart.  Since racing with these guys Chuck has taken most of the track records locally and is constantly on the podium....usually the top step.

So Why do I tell the story of Chuck's improvement and domination instead of going straight to the details of the race?  It is important as this is part of the reason why he was able to run a perfect race.  Chuck's skills on car tuning and set up have made his cars much faster than everyone else and his timing is so good on the turns that he can relax a little instead of having to run full out every lane.  Does that mean he sandbagged to get his perfect race?  Not at all, there are no hints of sandbagging or a set up race.  In qualifying Chuck set a new lap record on the black lane only to be followed by qualifiers #2 & #3 by a spread of on 8/100 of a second.  He qualified at 2.140 and the #3 qualifier turned in a blistering 2.222 only 0.082 second behind him.  This was going to be no easy race by any means.  The entire field of 7 racers was only separated by less than a quarter of a second with qualifying on what could easily be claimed as the most difficult lane of the track.  In this race Chuck did not take the lead until the 4th rotation.  Once he took the lead it was "so long fellows".  He had been patient through the outside lanes where most of the danger is for getting caught up in someones problems.  It is on the red and white lanes where the cars always finish after a de-slot in the only difficult turn on this track.  After clearing the dangerous outer lanes he started his move for the win.  You have to remember the other guys were all running on lanes the inside of him at the beginning of the race.  With the other guys running inside of him, he wasn't capable of making up the distance for the longer lanes as they were all so close in speed.  After moving inside the gutter lanes others were starting to run the longer lanes and he was running shorter lanes.  Chuck wound up winning with a 13 lap lead over 2nd place.  With that kind of lead after trailing in the first 3 rotations you cannot say he laid back.  In fact, on rotation 6 he set a new track record turning 54 laps on the purple lane, more than anyone had ever dreamed of.  On rotation 7 he was on the inside lane and had to watch out for de-slots as people would come out of the lead on turn.  These de-slots would drift directly in front of him as they slid down the straight headed to the largest bank turn.  This was what had cost him a perfect race only a week before in the last minute of the race.  The last lane had him on a more comfortable yellow lane and he was able to drive cautiously to preserve his perfect race.  Before you get excited and say he was sandbagging on this lane, let me make sure the picture is properly painted.  Yes, he was cautious on his last rotation and I can't blame him for that, but he actually increased his lead.  So, how can you say he was sandbagging if he was still running faster than anyone else on the track.

A little about the class Chuck was running in and the car he was driving.  The class was Super Modifieds being run on a 75' tri-oval.  It was on a tri-oval and not on a road course, so some may doubt the validity of it being a perfect race.  I say, any time you run for 16 minutes without making a mistake and preventing yourself from being taken out by others, it is a perfect race even if it is on a track with only one difficult turn.  After all that turn comes around every 2.2-2.5 seconds.  So that is 403 times on this occasion without a mistake.  These cars are modified 1/32 scale Womp Womps.  The chassis is modified by having the right side of the chassis cut off making it a left turn only chassis (see Super Modifieds Racing At Charlie's Garage part 1).  Originally these cars were being run with any motor we wanted to run in them, but the carnage was too great.  In order to slow them down a new rule was put into place limiting the motors to Hawk 25 motors which are supposed to only turn about 25,000 rpm.  Problem, they are now running as fast as they did when we had Hawk 6s and Hawk 7s in them.  I have described these cars as flying bricks in the past.  Anyone who has run Womp Womps knows this to have at least a spark of truth to it.  However, these little cars truly can get around the track well.  No, it wasn't on a road course.  It did not have the carnage of a road course race with a full track.  But it was still a great piece of driving.

Congratulations to Chuck Hendricks on not only achieving the perfect race, but setting new track records in qualifying and racing in the process.

Chuck Hendricks perfect race Nov. 18, 2018 75' tri-oval, Super Modified class, Charlie's Garage, Pearl, MS

Cut down Womp Womp with Hawk 25 motor and super modified body

 I am still looking for confirmed perfect races I can write posts about.  I will re-post my challenge to report a perfect race with corrections made for HO scale racers.  The rules will be the same concerning HO races except the scale will be allowed and sectional tracks will be allowed for HO scale and 1/32 scale.

Dogs, Fleas, and Slot Car Tracks

There are certain things in life you can count on.  If you have a dog, at some point that dog will probably have fleas to some degree.  Some dogs get more fleas and some dogs get fewer fleas.  They all get fleas to some degree at some time.  A commercial slot car track is the same.  There are certain things that are going to happen and you cannot avoid it.  All you can do is try to make the things that are bad as few as possible.  I know this seems like an odd topic for a slot car blog, but hang in here with me for a while.  I know this will be a long post, but it will be worth it by the end and you will understand about dogs, fleas, and slot car tracks.

Let's take a look at one particular flea.  At least the slot car track owner may consider this person a flea.  This "flea" buys slot car items and supplies over the internet instead of the local track.  This creates a distinct itch for the track owner.  So, how does the track owner scratch this itch?  Let's look at the dog again.  If it has fleas, the dog owner can let the dog suffer or can treat the poor unfortunate dog.  There are many things a dog owner can do to get rid of the fleas.  He can wash the dog.  He can get shots for the dog.  He can get pills the dog takes each month.  He can apply a chemical to the dog that will ward off fleas.  Or, he can let the dog suffer and deal with the itch by scratching and chewing.

Unfortunately, some track owners who would not let their own dogs itch will let their racers itch and suffer without trying to remedy the situation.  I do not try to point a finger at any one track or track owner; this is just a general statement.  Just as true as the previous statement, some track owners do try to satisfy the itch their racers have.  When a dog comes into the house with fleas you get fleas on the sofa, the chairs, the carpet and even the bed.  A dog with fleas hurts the house.  A slot car racer who buys over the internet instead of at their local track hurts the local track by taking away possible revenue that can help keep the doors open.  So, do you beat the dog because it has fleas?  I don't think so.  As pointed out earlier, it is the dog owners responsibility for getting rid of the fleas.  If this is done, he can get rid of the fleas in his sofa, chair, carpet, bed...etc.  Happy home once again....or, happy slot car business.

We know how to get fleas off the dog.  Now, how do we get people to buy from the local track instead of the internet?  I hope any track owners who read this post will keep an open mind and take what I am about to say seriously.  I will speak the truth and only the truth in this matter.  After all, I am on the side of the person who had a dream about opening a track and actually put his money where his dream was.

Recently, I had a track owner share his laments with me about people buying off the internet and not from him.  Let's look at the actual facts of life concerning purchasing slot car racing supplies.  The track owner buys from distributors and the racers buy from retailers.  Even on the internet you will find the prices similar to what the distributors had in mind for the local tracks to sell products for.  So, the reason for internet purchases is not really the price if everything goes right.  For everything to go right it depends on the internet sellers not cutting their profits and the track owner not escalating his prices.  If either one does, then you get "fleas".  Unfortunately, sometimes, both break this rule of economy.  If you bear with me a little longer we will look at what makes this happen and the results that follow.

As much as I admire people who invest their money in slot car raceways, I do believe the following.  Anyone who wants to open a track should first get a MBA degree.  Most track owners do not understand the principles of incremental sales or purchases and the savings these reflect.  At the same time, most track owners I have met do not understand the principle of keeping your cash flowing instead of having dead stock.  These are two of the simplest principles learned in earning a MBA.  Another principle is the principal of adding value to a product, thus adding profit.

Lets look at incremental sales and purchases.  If it cost you $1.00 to buy an item from a distributor, the cost of freight, plus your overhead for the transaction (your time, your phone, the power being on, etc...) would be so high you could not sell the item for a profit because the price would be so high no one would buy it if that was all you purchased.  With each additional purchase you make your cost go down.  If you make a purchase that is large enough, in most cases you can get free shipping.  It has been years since I have talked with distributors about this, but in the past, if you made a large enough purchase, you could get a price reduction on the whole order (understand, I am not saying this still exists as I have not talked with distributors recently).  IF this price break plus free shipping still does exist, then a track owner would be foolish not to take advantage of the opportunity to increase his profit margin.  Note, profit margin is not the same as mark-up.  Profit margin is the actual amount of the dollar spent in your store that you keep.  I once had an argument with a lawyer who owned a jobber business concerning this.  The lawyer was advertising his customers would get a 60% profit margin.  I pointed out to him that the profit margin was only about 40%.  He mistook markup for profit.  This just goes to show you can be smart and still not understand basic sales economics.  By the way, most grocery stores would die for a 40% profit margin.  Most grocery stores work on 20-24% profit margin on most items.  So what all this means is if you buy smart and plan so you take advantage of all the savings you can get, you will have a higher profit margin.

Next, let's look at adding value to a product.  This is taking a product and improving it in-store so you can sell it for a higher price.  This in turns skyrockets your profit margin.  How does a track do this?  Just a few ideas are as follows... A commutator brush goes for xxx amount per pair.  However, if you take a simple tool and contour the brushes so they are pre-broken in you can sell them for a higher price (increased profit margin).  Commutator brush springs are sold in various degrees of stiffness and sell for xxx per pair.  There is a simple tool that rates the spring tension on a scale of 1-10.  You can buy springs in bulk and measure them pairing matching springs.  These springs can then be sold as matched springs for a higher amount (increased profit margin).  Motors can be pre-broken in and sold for a....you guessed it, a higher profit margin.  You add value to an item at no additional cost and make more money on that same product.  This is just three such items that are easy to do.  I am not going to make a long list here for the track owners; if they want my expertise, they can pay me for it and increase my profit margin, lol.  When does all this work get done adding value?  It gets done during the slack time in the shop.  Also, any track owner should learn to work on the cars himself.  By doing this he can take in cars to be repaired and make a profit this way.  A track owner should be able to solder in motors, set gear meshes, straighten chassis, trim and mount bodies, align rear axle oilites, etc...  All these repairs or modifications offer profit opportunities plus an earned loyalty to the track.  The repairs are taken in and done as time allows, to be picked up on the racers next trip to the track.  A track owner should be willing to help others learn how to do these things, but should not even solder a lead wire into place without charging a fee.  All these things add value and profit to a track operation.

Now, let's look at cash flow.  I have visited tracks from west Texas all the way to Pennsylvania and have only seen a few where the owners understood this principle.  At most slot car tracks you will see a bunch of outdated parts no one wants to buy.  No matter how savvy a track owner you are, you will encounter this problem.  The smart track owners, and there aren't many of them, will see the trend and dump their unpopular stock before it becomes completely outdated.  The smart track owner will sacrifice his profit on this item and sell it at cost if necessary to get rid of it.  Most track owners look at these items as items that are already paid for and won't cost them anything to keep them until they do sell.  The problem is it DOES cost them.  It costs them cash flow.  Without good cash flow you cannot keep buying new items to sell.  Think about it this way.  You will eventually, maybe 2 or 3 years from now, sell that item for a whopping 40% profit margin if you are lucky.  If you were to get your cash back out of it early and reinvest in fresh inventory, how many times could you turn your money over for that 40% profit margin in 2-3 years?  Inventory should turn over every 90 days or less.  If it lasts more than 6 months you are sitting on dead merchandise that is hurting cash flow.

So, how does all this deal with the internet and "fleas" at the slot car track?  The internet providers will understand the cash flow situation and will drop the price on inventory that doesn't move.  This is where the internet providers get a bad reputation for undercutting the local tracks.  The problem is they are selling, at lower prices, product no one would otherwise buy, not even at the local track unless it was dirt cheap.  If you doubt this, go to JK Products website and look at their bargain page.  It is a myth that people buy from the internet instead of local tracks to save money.  The real reason most people buy on the internet instead of the local track falls into two categories.  The first is the local track does not have what the racers want.  The local track owner may be resistant to ordering items because he is worried it will become dead stock.  It doesn't matter why the local track owner doesn't have the items desired by his racers. It only matters that the track doesn't have what the racers want.  In these cases the racers will go where they can to buy the products they want.  When a track tries to control their inventory to the point of not having what the racers want, they cannot expect the racers to stay off the internet.  The benefit of purchasing at the local track is having it available when it is needed and not having to wait on it.  The track owner may say "I can order it for you.", but there is a problem here.  The problem here is, it will usually take the track owner possibly two races to get the item in.  The racer can order it on the internet and have it in 2 or 3 days in most cases.  Also, often the track owner may say "I can't order it unless you place an order for x amount of them".  On the internet a person can buy one item if he only needs one.  He is going to pay more shipping for one item if he has to order it off the internet so he will probably go ahead and buy other items he could have bought at the local track to get free shipping (Remember incremental purchasing?  The racers do I assure you.).  At this point, and this really happens, the track will lose $75-$100 in sales because they did not have a $4 item.

Another way "fleas" get into the local track are the track owners forgetting ways of increasing profit margin and going for the easy increase by upping their price.  When you buy a product from the local track for $5.00, then notice the price on the label says $4.50, it lets the buyer know that accepted prices and profits mean nothing to the track owner.  A track owner should not complain if his customers buy products for the suggested retail online because he is selling the same item for 50-100% more than what the suggested price is.  Remember, the racers are customers and you are a business owner.  They do not owe you their business.  You must earn their business.  This isn't a movie and the words "If you build it, they will come" do not apply.

So, how does a track owner get rid of "fleas"?  You care for them as a person would for their dog.  If you do nothing, they will suffer like the dog with fleas and so will you.  Try keeping competitive prices.  You do not have to be lower than the internet.  Just sell the items at the suggested retail price unless you have increased the value in some way.  Keep the items that are desired in stock.  Do not be resentful because someone wants something you don't have.  Try to get it so they will not be forced to buy it over the internet.  Remember, not having that $4 item could cost you $100 in sales.  Keep your inventory fresh.  If it is not selling, put it on sale dirt cheap and get rid of it so that money can go back to work for you.  This will allow the track owner to keep those desired items he does not currently have in stock.

One last little point.....In a marriage, if you are not interested in the things your spouse is interested in, they will more than likely not not be as interested in you.  Be interested in what your racers are doing.  The most successful track owners are interested in and take an active part in what the racers are doing.  The track owners who are attentive and try to help their "dogs" with the "flea" problem earn the loyalty of the racers and the "fleas" soon go away.

Building Mossetti Striker 3 part 2

I got my chassis assembled and installed a Group 12 motor into it courtesy of Greg Gilbert.  I have cut out a put a simple paint job on a gokart body which I would be running in Prattville.  Everything seemed good.  The axle was free, the gear mesh was nice, and the body fit so I was expecting good things.  Oh, I was so wrong.  I still believe in this chassis and will use it in the future as a back up GTP chassis.

The problem with running this combination with a gokart body was it didn't handle.  Going down the long straight my car would launch out of the slot for no apparent reason than too much power.  I pulled the Group 12 motor out and tried installing a Hawk Retro motor.  Even with this combination it was coming out on the straights.  I did not have the time to spend working my way through this challenge so I decided to just share my chassis from my DTM car with a gokart body.  The previous month I had run my DTM chassis ( Champion Turbo Flex) as a gokart.  So, I brought my old gokart body with me in case I had troubles.  I fell back on this combination and was able to field a car.  It was not very fast compared to the others but I was at least able to field a car and not have to humiliate myself by asking others if I could drive one of their cars.  A big part of slot car racing is being able to work on your own cars and field one that you have worked on yourself.  It may have finished last, but I had fun driving my own car.

Now, why did the Mossetti chassis not handle?  I think I have an idea about this.  I will even be prepared to try it again next month when I go to Prattville on June 2nd.  The chassis had aluminum side pans with no uprights in the front for axle and wheels.  Yes, that is right, I was going to race a gokart with no front wheels.  The rules do not specify you must have them.  This made for a very light car especially in the front end.  I had a wing on the back of the gokart and this may have been making the front of the car come out of the slot under acceleration.  Next time I will probably start with a nose wing and nothing on the back of the kart.

Unfortunately I never got to see how fast this car would go as it never got up to full speed with out coming out of the slot.  Next month I will not only be trying this car at Prattville again, but I will be taking on IRRA legal Retro racing at Talladaga, AL on the last Saturday of June.  I have a beautiful Can Am Retro car built by Pablo and soon I will have a Pablo retrofitted Formula 1 Retro car.  I recently purchased a used Formula 1 Retro car and found out the measurements were not legal for IRRA racing.  I am glad I had Pablo give it the once over.  Pablo has assured me the chassis design is good and will just take a little work to make it competitive.  So, I have asked Pablo to work his magic on making this car a competitive car for the Retro circuit. 

Building Mossetti Striker 3

This particular chassis, Mossetti Patriot Striker 3, was going to be used for my GT car and my old GT chassis was going to be sent to my gokart.  Problem, the chassis I ordered was supposed to be just like my old Mossetti and have front axle mounts.  OOPS...this one came in without the mounts.  I can't put it in my GT because they are required to have front wheels.  So, the only other class this chassis would be legal for is the gokart class.  The gokarts while looking funny without front wheels are not required to have the at this point.  This means the new Mossetti will go to that class and be held in reserve for a back up GTP chassis.

First thing I did was to pull the chassis out of the bag and checked for flatness.  I was surprised at how flat the chassis was out of the bag.  The first axle bushing I soldered in I was very happy with.  The axle slid through cleanly from its own weight.  The second one however did not allow the axle to slide through.  I checked for solder in the bushing and there was none.  I got some fine sand paper and made a roll barely small enough to fit into the bushing and tried to sand any imperfection out.  This did not help and I noticed inside the bushing the axle had actually scarred the surface of the bushing.  I unsloldered this bushing and promptly threw it away.  I felt like a genius having actually ordered two pair of the bushings instead of just one.  That is I felt like a genius for a few. seconds then I realized the problem with the bushing was probably caused by me to begin with.  I guess I wasn't a genius, I just understood how prone I am to messing things up.  Anyway, the second bushing fit good and soldered in perfectly.  I will be using a Slick 7 guide flag on this car.  I like the Slick 7 because of its design, also I have never had one break on me.  The motor will be a surprise, let me just say Greg Gilbert sent me a special little something to put in it.

Billy Watson, owner of the Dungeon, has two different gokart bodies.  Or, at least he did...I may have bought the last two of one of them he had.  The difference is the length of the body.  One is a little longer than the other.  I will be using the shorter one of the two for this chassis.  I will be reinforcing the back end of the body over the motor with body armor and will be using a GT spoiler on the back.  I really want to win one of these Ralph Thorne pit box plaques Pablo will be providing.  I may very well have the car to finish on the podium, but can I drive it well enough to get there?

I look for the gokarts to be much faster this month than they were last month.  I also look for a lot more accidents to happen.  Last race we were all so careful and afraid of these cars we took it kind of easy, except for Bud Greene.  I look for everyone to be pushing things a lot harder this month, I know I will.

Review on Pablo's build

Hmmm....let me get this out of the way.  This is not a post concerning Pablo's physique or his looks, I have no interest in that.  I will say he is slightly better looking than a three car pile up around a cypress tree in a swamp surrounded with alligators.  Mind you, he is only slightly better looking than that.

I had the pleasure of picking up my IRRA legal Retro Can Am slot car Pablo built for me on Friday.  I must say, I have never owned a slot car that has this level of professionalism built into it.  The car is a thing of beauty, unlike the builder.  But then, I can't say much about looks.  The only reason I have the wonderful wife I do is because of her pity on the criminally ugly.  At least I don't have dementia like my brother though.  Back to the car, the solder joints are amazing and the detail is incredible.  The guide flag has been surfaced on the under side of the flag and the blade to make everything lay flat and slide smooth.  The rotating surfaces on the guide flag and the guide flag tongue have both been machined to guarantee smooth action.  Everywhere there is a hole, and it has been appropriate, it has been reamed to assure a perfectly round hole and an exact fit.  For a lack of a better word I will call the rear axle, motor mount, and motor assembly a "pod".  The axle "pod" is incredible.  I will not even try to describe it as I could not do it justice.  Let me say there aren't enough O's in the word smooooooooooooooth to describe it.  It is simply smooth and strong.

Now, where do I try it out first.  I could go to the local track, but that would not give this car a true test as it is a blip the controller in the turns type track.  I want to see how it will handle when you have to "drive" through turns.  I would like to try it on the "Nightmare" in Robertsdale, AL as that track would give it a good test for the handling, but I don't know if Greg Gilbert is ever going to host another race.  Maybe I should talk to him about renting the track from him for a day and put on my own race.  No, I don't think that is the answer.  I think the first track I will try the car out on will be the "Dungeon" in Prattville, AL.  The "Dungeon" is long enough to see how it will handle high speed turns and will give me the opportunity to take it through some turns where you have to drive through them at partial throttle.

Greg, how about hosting a Retro car race at the "Nightmare"  I am sure we could get a number of racers in for it.

I had no idea how little I knew about building slot cars!

I hired the talents of a man named Pablo to build a IRRA legal Can Am car for me.  I have raced with Pablo and know him to be a talented racer and his reputation for building cars is excellent.  When I told him I wanted him to build the car for me he asked me where I would be racing it.  I had to admit I didn't know.  I will have to travel to race a Retro car anywhere.  So, he decided to make a car that would be competitive at most any track.  I am sure if I told him of a specific track he would have built the car differently with that track in mind.  Pablo has kept me in the loop during the build of this car with pictures and descriptions of what he was doing.  Let me say, I have built many a car up from a bare chassis.  I thought my cars did pretty well, and they did against local racers.  But, I have never had a car that was built with such dedication to details.

I am not going to tell everyone here how he did the things he did as I paid to have it done.  If you want to know all that I have learned and am learning from this car you can pay to have Pablo build one yourself.  Here is a listing of some of the things he has done that I would not have done.

To start with, he machined the guide flag.  By that I mean he worked on the surface of the guide flag to improve it.  I am not completely sure looking at the pictures, but I believe he "pinned" the guide flag post to make it stronger.  I will find out about this when I pick up the car tomorrow.  The tongue of the chassis where the guide flag attaches was doubled in thickness to make it stronger.  He then machined the surfaces of the guide flag tongue.  I know this has to make the guide flag move more smoothly.  He used a light weight guide flag nut on and trimmed on it a little more.

The front axle assembly was set for the height of the tires being used.  It is my understanding he trimmed the axle spacers and machined the surfaces of them as well.  I have never even thought of machining the surfaces of the spacers.  I am sure these will be the most free rolling front tires I have ever had on a car.

The soldering job on this car can only be attributed to a master at the craft.  I had never heard of anyone using a mic on solder to determine how thick it is after the solder was applied to achieve a previously set thickness.  I will go farther into the side pans and the chassis other than to quote someone from JK Products, "It is too much of a work of beauty to race".

The rear axle assembly blew my mind.  You have your uprights for the olites to attach to.  They are attached via a tube connected to the uprights.  The tube was machined to match up to the "Racing Bushings" that were used.  This allowed for perfect soldering.  The tube was mounted to the uprights then supports were built to attach to the chassis and axle tube.  While setting the axle up the free fall test was used and the axle went through the bushing cleanly by its own weight and gravity.  I have been warned that the tolerance here is so low that oiling is a must.  If I do not oil it, it will probably seize up within 3-5 laps.

I will not get into the spacers on the rear axle as I paid for that info.  If you want it you can do the same.  I will say the axle has no excess rolling mass.  The rest of the rear end of the car is to beautiful to express here other than the axle tube is no longer a one piece job.

This car is beautiful and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.  Thank you Pablo, you have lived up to your reputation.

Thunder Cave Raceway - A Fantasy Track (part 1-7)

Part 1 - The Dream

In my years of Slot Car Racing I have seen a lot of great tracks and a lot of poor tracks.  I will tell you this as a fact, a poor track is better than no track.  It can be frustrating but it is still Slot Car Racing which I happen to love.  I have raced R/C cars and was even somewhat successful at it.  I was never as good at R/C car racing as my brother, who unfortunately suffers from dementia now.  However, I was good enough to win a few races.  R/C car racing never brought me the enjoyment of Slot Cars though.  I don't know why, maybe it was that slot cars takes timing instead of two handed coordination plus timing.  Maybe it was because Slot Car Racing was less expensive and I was racing on a very restrictive budget.  The fact is, given the choice of R/C car racing and racing Slot Cars I will choose Slot Cars everytime.

I have seen locally quite a few tracks open and close.   In the late 1960's an American King and an American Black were in the basement of a toy store.  This was run as a recreational track with no competitive racing program.  I got my introduction to Slot Car Racing at this track.  It was not organized but it was fun.  Eventually the store owner decided he could make better use for the space by stocking merchandise there.  He actually offered to give one or both of the tracks to me if I had somewhere to put them.  Not having a building available I turned down the offer and he had the tracks hauled to the local land fill as garbage.  Later a track opened with a Blue King and the racing was organized.  It was primitive by today's standards.  It had a lap counter that was based on a piece of wire hanging down over each lane and would count the laps as the cars tripped the wire.  This place even had trophy races occasionally.  Eventually this track owner lost interest and closed the track.  The next local track that opened was in an arcade in the mid 1970's.  This location had two tracks an Orange Monarch and an 110' American Black.  I always thought the Black was the better track but it did not have any banked turns and the Orange had one slightly banked turn so everyone ran on the Orange.  We had races there and a lot of fun.  Next was the first "Modern" track to open.  It had a Blue King and an Orange Monarch track.  Why do I say it was the first "Modern" track?  That is because it was the first track I ran on which had you change lanes and run rotations.  This was probably the most fun of all the local tracks I had raced at.  It was well organized and had every part for every car the track sold ready to be purchased if the need was there.  In other words it was well stocked and we did take advantage of the stock of parts.  Unfortunately the owner was not in a big hurry to start races and we would sometimes sit around for an hour or more waiting for him to start the races.  He eventually fell pray to finances and could no longer keep the track open.  Today we have a local track with a 110' orange and a large tri-oval.  There are competitive races being run at this track, but the races are not being run by the owner.  A person volunteered to be race director and is doing the best he knows how to run the races.  Over all, it is not as professional as the last track opened in our area but it is still fun.  The owner put an incredible amount of money into opening this track.  I wish him success in this effort.  We need people in this hobby that are willing to do more than "talk" about opening tracks.

Why do I mention these tracks?  I was a truck driver for 20 years and part of that time I was carrying my slot car stuff with me.  When I would be in a town over night I would check for a local slot car track and try to go to it.  As a result of this I was able to see a lot of really well run tracks and a lot of poorly run tracks.  I was able to see what made a track successful and one unsuccessful.  I came to understand a lot more about why the local tracks in the past had all failed.  I learned about the pattern of a slot car tracks life in most cases and how some people were able to over come the difficulties other tracks experienced.  This has led me to dream about one day having my own slot car track and run it the way I would like to see one run.  While I may not agree with the way some tracks operate I want to state as a fact that I have great respect for those who put their money up to open a slot car track.  These slot car track owners have the pleasure and the opportunity to run their tracks the way they see fit.  Even if I disagree they have the right to run it how they wish and we should be thankful to them for opening the track.  After all opening a commercial Slot Car Track requires a significant amount of money and they were willing to put it up to open a track and maybe fulfill a dream instead of just writing about it.

This will be a series of articles written based on how I would open a track and run it.  I will write it from the view point of actually doing it.  My investment budget will be $25,000.  The time span will be shorter than actually building and growing a race program, but it will be in the order and the fashion I would be shooting for if I actually did this.  In these articles you will get to see my actual vision of what I would love to see in a Slot Car Track.  You will get to see how I would plan out a location, select tracks, order parts, start the business and run the race program.  Remember, this is all fantasy as I am not spending the money and making the commitment that actual track owners have.

Be watching for "Thunder Cave Raceway - A Fantasy Track" Part 2 - Looking For A Home.

Part 2 - Looking For A Home

First thing needed is not an inventory or even a track to open a Slot Car Raceway.  The first thing needed is a home for the track.  There are some common knowledge and common sense requisites for a home for a Slot Car Raceway.  The first is it must be a leased building and not a purchase.  In the world of Slot Car Racing often a track needs the availability to change its location.  This is based upon the thought that you are looking for a location that will bring customers to you and not depend upon you bringing all the customers to the track through advertising.  Ideally, the track location will be in a multiple building facility like a strip mall.  A location that has other businesses close by that bring a variety of people right by your door on a daily basis.  The location should also be within visibility of a heavily traveled road.  This traffic means a large number of people will see your sign every day.  Ideally the location will have the square footage that is approximately three times the foot print of your main track you will be using.

Since the footprint of the track I will be trying to buy is 20' X 40" I will need 800 sq. ft. X 3 or 2,400 square feet.  This will allow for the main track (800 sq. ft.), counter, sales, and repair/work area (200 sq. ft.), space for 6 pit tables tables (200 sq. ft.), length of work bench along one wall for work space (160 sq. ft.) space for a secondary track, bathroom, and other purposes (940 sq. ft.).

The reason for leasing instead of buying is the ability to change locations and gain a new influx of racers from a new location if the current location starts to fail. The thought here is that your old dedicated racers will follow you to a new location if you have to move and you can pick up a lot of new racers through the exposure to people who have never seen your track.  Leasing a location also means you can open for a lot less cash than if you build.  If you own a building already it would be great, but you are still tied to that location and probably would find it difficult to change locations if you needed to.

Now, why do you need a location that brings so many people by your door?  In order for a commercial track to stay open, with the assumption it will have to pay for its self, you must have enough people to spend the amount needed to survive being in business.  Some of these racers will spend a lot of money especially at first.  However, you will find many only have X amount of dollars to spend on a hobby in each week.  If you approach business from the view point of these people will only spend X amount each week then you can figure how many people you will need as regular customers/racers per week to keep the doors open.  Anyone spending more than the X amount each week is a premium and gives you the opportunity to make improvements.

Figuring on a maximum lease of $2,500 per month (if a lower lease amount can be found it will be a premium), utilities of $500 per month,  plus other expenses of $500 per month means a needed profit of $3.500 per month plus any employment issues.  $3,500 profit per month on slot car, parts, etc. is an enormous amount.  Considering a 40% profit margin (note, profit margin is not the same thing as mark up) on cars, parts, etc. you will actually need to bring in a little over $8,500 per month.  Figuring a person spends on the average $35 per week on slot cars (this is figuring the spending habits after the person has bought their first run of cars and controllers) it will take approximately 60 regular slot car racers to achieve this.  60 regular racers is a large number of racers to maintain, this is why you need a premium location with a lot of exposure.

I have found such a location!!!  This is a real location and the figures are real however I will not say the name of the actual street or the street number.  I have found on a very busy street, in a growing area of the town of Flowood, MS.  The location has good parking joining in with other business.  It is in a strip mall type situation.  Many identifiable businesses are immediately around the location including major chain restaurants and clothing locations.  Drive thru traffic in the strip mall immediately in front of the location is over 1,000 vehicles per day.  The actual square footage is a little smaller than first desired as it is only 2,150 sq. ft.  This is still a workable amount of square footage especially considering the lease is only $2,200 per month.  This will mean gross sales for each month can be $750 less making over all sales needing to be $7,750 per month instead of $8,500.  It also means only 55 racers will be required to keep the track afloat as opposed to 60.  It will still allow for all the needed space allocated with the space for the secondary track and extra spaces reduced to 640 square feet instead of 940 square feet.  This number is still workable especially since I have something in mind concerning my secondary track.

Cost for getting the lease, local permits, licenses, sign on building, and utilities turned on....$8,000.  Remaining budget $17,000.

Location found!  Part 3 will be about finding my main track which I already have a line on.

Part 3 - Getting The Track

(Please Note....The track is an actual track up for sale. For fantasy purposes I am going forward as if I have actually purchased this track.It is an actual track on the market with real life numbers and situation.)

So, the location has been found and the lease has been signed for two years in a prime spot.  I have now locked down my track which I will travel to pick up.  The track is located approximately 12 driving hours from my home.  This will require a four day rental of a 26' truck, I am going to rent the next larger size in case there are other opportunities while I am at this location.  Day one I rent the truck and drive to the location of the track.  Day two I load the track and negotiate purchase of inventory that is at the track (this is a track which has gone out of business).  Day three drive back to my home town and rest for the night.  Day four, unload the track and loosely set track into positions to start assembly on day five.

The track is a 155' Oglivie Swoopy King.  It comes with two power sources, computer, two monitors, and race program software already loaded onto the computer.  It is a turn key set up for a legendary track in excellent condition.  The price for this track and everything to operate it is $3,500.  The braid is still in good condition, but I will be putting new braid on it as I set it up.  I will also be having a sign painted on the surface of the track before I put the new braid on.  The sign will be across the large banked turn and will declare the track to be "Thunder Cave Raceway" complete with my little caveman holding a controller logo.

While picking up the track I will be discussing purchasing the owners total inventory for 25% of actual cost.  If he doesn't like this idea and wants more for his inventory I will offer 50% of actual cost for parts of his inventory I will pick and choose from.  I realize some may think 25% or even 50% is trying to take advantage of a person when they are down.  This is not the case.  I am sure I could get the new inventory at a small discount with my first order considering it will be a large one.  Doing this ALL  my inventory will be fresh and exactly what I want to sell.  I am not about to pay 75% of cost to someone else to purchase what THEY felt was their vision of what their track would need.  I will also be discussing the purchase of a number of pieces of equipment such as commutator lathe, tire truer, magnet zapper, various chassis jig plates, soldering station, etc...  Due to the fact that I intend to work on cars for people who need the service I will be buying any tools I can at a discount if possible.

I will also be looking at purchasing fixtures.  I have a local source where I can buy glass display cases for $100 each.  If I can buy his for $50 each I will do so.  Any wall decorations he is willing to sell will be considered.  I will have approximately 80' of wall space to decorate.  The rest of my wall space has a purpose already and will be arranged as such.

Track purchased.  Remaining budget $13,500.  Part 4 will involve the actual trip to pick up the track and expenses involved.

Part Four - Planning the trip to pick up the track

(Note, this is a fantasy article only.  I am not really purchasing and opening a Slot Car Raceway.  It is an exercise in what it would actually be like to do so.  I have always wanted to open a track of my own and this fantasy experience may be as close as I ever get.  Please note, all references to any details concerning opening the track reflect actual deals, fixtures and locations I have found)

Today I have checked on rental truck prices.  It is a good thing I have an excellent price on the track this is going to cost more than I anticipated.  The combined price of truck rental (including milage....I will continue to look for a rental with no mileage charges), fuel, and motel for two nights comes up to $1,800.  The truck will be a 26 foot as I cannot find a company that offers larger rentals.  This means I may be limited on fixtures I could buy when I get there.  I am not including the cost of meals as I will have to eat anyway.

I will be taking some simple tools with me a couple creepers for getting under the track to disassemble it, every blanket in our house, and my wife for company and assistance.  My wife is coming because there is no one on this Earth I trust more or work better with.  Through our 40+ years of marriage we have accomplished things I thought would be impossible.  There is no one I trust more to work on a project with.

I have also purchased three sheets of thin plywood.  One of these sheets has been painted with large black and white checkers.  I will be having vinyl lettering done at Budget Signs in Jackson, MS with the name of the track and "Winners Circle" attached.  This sheet will be on one of the walls for pictures of winners of races and track record holders to be taken in front of.  The other two sheets will be a "Wall of Honor" where the pictures will be placed.  As long as a person holds a track record in a class the picture will remain on the wall.  Special race winners will also have their pictures taken and put on the "Wall of Honor" for the following year.  Oops, I am getting ahead of myself.  The special races will be discussed later, but they will take place at least every other month and will be in multiple classes.

budget balance after accounting for the trip to pick up the track, plywood, paint, and vinyl lettering...$11,600.

Part 5 - Results of the trip to pick up the track

(Reminder...  This is a fictional story of starting up a Slot Car Raceway.  There is no real Thunder Cave Raceway.  The conditions and situations are represented by real life conditions and opportunities.)

Arriving at the location to pick the track up the owner was there to help us take it down and understand how to put it back up.  This was an all day affair as we made plenty notes on everything involved so we could reverse engineer the assembly of the track.  All went well with the disassembly and the track went into the truck with room to spare.  We were careful in loading to assure no damage would take place on the twelve hour drive back home.  Card board dunnage, blankets and tie down straps were used in abundance to accomplish this.

We tried to work a deal on existing inventory but an agreement on price could not be made.  He felt he could get more on Ebay piecing it out.  The price on the glass display cabinets was nice but not enough savings over our local prices to make the transporting of them worth the risk of glass damage.  I would have really liked to purchase the com lathe he had but that was not possible either.  I will simply have to buy one new along with all the other tools of the trade we will have on hand for repairs and improvements.  It is my plan to have a complete shop set up for slot car repairs.  Repairs and improvements will include blueprinting chassis as well as motors and even things as mundane as soldering jobs and body mounting.  Of course these will be done at a reasonable price.

Upon returning home with the track we unloaded the track and "semi" set the track up.  We will wait until the braid comes in for re-braiding and the bill board is painted on the large banked turn to do the actual assembly.  In the time while we are waiting we will be painting in the interior and getting our retail/shop area set up.  We already have our "Wall of Honor" up as well as our "Victory Lane" area for photos to be taken.  We will also be building the work bench for pit area and having electrical outlets placed every 6 feet along it.

I am now shopping for a secondary track.  This will be a short oval track which is easily taken down.  Its primary use will be for rental cars, but will also be used for promotional activities such as the state fair and large car shows.  The idea here is to buy display space and set up the track for free races using rental cars and controllers.  The winner of each race will get a card good for 30 minutes track time with a rental car and controller for the winner and one guest.  This will give me the opportunity to reach and unthinkable number of people and actually give them an opportunity to see what slot car racing is about.  The free rental time will give them an opportunity to see the actual track and be exposed to our raceway.  The additional guest will make the experience more fun and will double our exposure at the actual track making the expense of the display space even more valuable.  Yes it is a lot of work to take a track down and set it up twice, but he exposure is something you could not get with any other amount of print or broadcast advertising.  By doing this twice a year it should keep exposure at a high level and bring in new racers in the fall and in the spring.

Part 6 - The Grand Opening

(I would like to remind everyone this is an imaginary track opening.  I have always wanted to open a slot car track, but have never had the resources to open and then assure the continued success of the track.  I would like to tip my hat to all who have had the courage to actually open a commercial raceway.  It is an effort that all too often goes unappreciated.)

The final pieces are now in place.  The sign simply says "Slot Cars".  On the door is lettering that says "Thunder Cave Raceway.  My thoughts on the sign was to simply state what the business was.  I remember another track owner changed locations once and got a building you could see from the interstate exit.  He simply put "Slot Cars" on the window in huge letters you could read from the exit and it was effective.  The track has been assembled and new braid has been placed on all eight lanes of the track.  I now have a Victory Lane for photos and a Wall of Honor for race winners and record holders.

I have purchased a 30' oval track.  I had to go get it but I was able to use my own trailer as it was not too large to fit.  This cut back my delivery expenses a lot.  The total cost of transportation and track purchase was $2,000.  This track is only 10 sections so it is not so hard to set up and take down for going to commercial events for promotional purposes.

I have purchased fixtures as follows; three used glass display cabinets for $100 each, three 6' banquet style tables plus 18 folding metal chairs for a total of $150, Building materials for the work bench along one wall came to $200, the 12 folding chairs for the work bench cost me $60, the wiring for the extra outlets along the work bench was a bargain at only $500.  These items totals $1,010.

My inventory is a relatively small amount however with weekly orders it should be sufficient.
Cars including Champion Turbo Flex RTR, Womp Womp RTR, Whisper Jets (for rental), Group F RTR,
Chassis include JK C43, Mosetti Patriot, Womp Womp, Champion Turbo Flex, Group F.
Controllers include rental controllers, Koford economy and a couple Difalcos.
Motors include Hawk 7, Hawk Retro, Pro Slot 4002, 16D
Parts include 3/32 axles, Womp Womp axles, 1/8 and 3/32 tires, 1/8' and 3/32' oilites, various pinons and spur gears, braid, commutator brushes and brush springs, regular guide flags, cutdown guide flags, light weight guide flag nuts, teflon washers, lead wires, various body clips, body pins, various painted and unpainted bodies, painted and unpainted drivers, lane stickers, number and sponsor sheets.  Basically parts to rebuild any car I sell.
Tools and helpful items, allen wrenches, 0.050' and 0.032 tech tools, economy and pro soldering irons, oilers, medium tire glue, braid drops, tire cleaner, pinion pullers and presses, soldering blocks, body mounting blocks, body reinforcement liquid, body armor.
Parts total is $5,800.

These figures are $2,000 oval track, $1,010 fixtures, $5,800 parts and cars totaling $8,810.  Taking this amount from the $11,600 I had left over I have $2,790 left.  $500 of this will be used for various weekly newspaper ads for two weeks, I will not be advertising in the large local paper.  $1,000 of this amount will be used for targeted popup ads on the internet.  $270 will be used for business cards, bumper stickers, and flyers.  This will leave $1,000 for incidental expenses I have not taken into account.

The grand opening will take place the second week of my news paper ads with specials on beginners sets containing Womp Womp or Turbo Flex, economy controller, allen wrench, oiler, 2 sets of braid, and one hour of track time.  These beginner sets will reflect a 20% savings for retail price.

Be watching for my final installment which includes my actual business practices.

Part 7 - The Business Plan

(Once again, I want to remind everyone this is a fictional track.  It does not exist and it never opened.  The spending represented was based on real world figures and actual opportunities.  These articles are not meant to make any insinuations concerning any real world Slot Car Raceways that are opened.  There are many ways to open and operate tracks, this is how I would do it if I were to open my own track.)

In order to understand how to create a business plan you must know something about the customers you are seeking to have.  A commercial Slot Car Raceway is a very difficult business to be successful with due to many factors.  Some of these factors are as follows.
 1. The very nature of slot car racing means some people will be doomed to finishing in the back of the pack almost always.  This can be very discouraging and can cause people to drop out of racing.
2. The customers who are not racers will be spending very little on their hobby once they get started.  These people will not keep the doors open.  You must develop interest in racing to get people to spend money on a regular basis.
3. The internet will rob you of sales.
4. People have various interest and will not always attend races once they become racers.

I have close up knowledge of two different types of business involving keeping people spending money in a store instead of the internet, or failing to do so.  When was the last time you saw a magic store?  I was a professional magician for a few years.  OK, I was a semi-professional magician.  At one time I had one of the largest magic stage shows in the South.  When starting out I bought all my tricks and supplies at the local magic store, yes there was one.  After a while the tricks on the shelf of the store were not sufficient nor was the advise I could get from the local magic store owner.  In order to advance I had to build my own illusions and seek the help of other magicians in other areas to get creative ideas or used stage illusions.  This meant I was no longer buying from the local shop except for occasional lengths of rope or common items.  The magic store could not get enough new magicians coming along to keep them open.  In order to keep customers loyal you must provide information and an expertise in the hobby you are in business with.  This magic store owner could not.

For 5 years I worked at a motorcycle dealership where motocross was promoted.  After a while I noticed that we were not selling as many accessory items and speed parts for motocross.  Checking with other dealerships I found most of the shops were not doing as much business in motocross as they once did.  Everyone was still selling the bikes but they were not getting the extra income of speed accessory sales.  The customers who came back to us for modifications on their bikes were still buying from us.  The people who were doing their own work were not.  Catalog sales were taking dollars away from us as they could get the parts and accessories cheaper there.  The shop "sponsored" racers, who got discounts, were still buying from us but that was the bulk of our diminished sales.  We would still sell accessories to the new riders and racers but once they felt they didn't need our service they went to the catalogs.  This caused many of the motorcycle shops to almost stop selling racing accessories completely.

The common bond here is the businesses lost sales when they were not looked to for advice or service.  A small discount to the racers kept loyalty to the motorcycle shop.  The people who were not racers were willing to pay full price as they weren't looking in the magazines for places to buy discount parts.  With this in mind it is important for a Slot Car Raceway to understand the difference between casual hobbyist and racers.  It is also important to understand the spending of each.  The hobbyist will spend money to get started and then spend very little, the racers will spend a little to get started and then spend a bunch to race.  While the casual hobbyist will be loyal with their limited spending the racers will see all the options for saving money buying elsewhere and need to coaxed into a sense of loyalty.

It is my opinion that most racers will spend X amount of money on their hobby a month.  They will spend this money on parts, tools, controllers, cars...etc.  It is the track owners responsibility to get as much of this amount to be spent at his track.  Some track owners think their income should come from renting track time and some look at track time as a means to sell parts and cars.  Recently I went to race at a track and there were not enough racers to fill out the class.  The track owner told the racers, since there was not enough people to race he would open the track up for them.  I had decided to build a particular car that looked like it would be fun to drive.  This is not a class that we race but it would be fun and other tracks do run it.  Because of this opening the track to the racers I will be buying the parts from him instead of elsewhere.  Until now the cars I built for racing at other tracks I had bought elsewhere because of savings.  I guess that show of support to the racers helped make me feel a little loyal to the track owner.  Building loyalty to the track is very important to keep dollars being spent there instead of the internet.  The more a track owner is personally invested in getting to know his racers and showing support of them the more loyalty the will show to him.

My business plan would work along this order.  You can compare slot cars to bowling.  After all, in the early days of slot car racing, AMF bought out American Model Raceways because they were afraid of the damage being done to bowling by slot car racing.  In bowling you do not have to have your own ball or shoes but it is much more enjoyable if you do.  When I first started bowling I used a rental ball and shoes.  When I got serious about it I bought my own ball and shoes.  The problem with most tracks rental cars is they are not maintained.  These should be the best maintained cars in the building.  Every time a car is rented its tires should be cleaned, it should be oiled and the braid examined.  Rental cars should be almost bullet proof.  Whisper Jet cars are a good choice for this as there is little to go wrong with them and are tough as nails, or there are cars now with direct drive and no gears.  The bodies should have an undercoating to prevent them from splitting or tearing.  The purpose of rental cars is to create the interest to buy a car and a controller.  I have seen some tracks who have actually had a class racing rental cars.  This class would only use rental cars and controllers.  If you have ever raced in a regular class of racing you were not allowed to race in the "novice" class.  Not all tracks can do this, it is dependent upon having a lot of traffic coming into your store and those that rented a car enjoying the experience.  Past T.O.A. track owner of the year, Jim Honeycut of San Antonio, was known to use this idea to the point of awarding merchandise certificates for the first three finishers which could be used with other certificates to buy a car and controller.  Once a "novice" cashed in any of these certificates he was no longer eligible to race as a novice.  This actually fed racers from the rentals to the regular racers.  Well maintained rental cars are very important.

Track rental would be in fifteen minute intervals with multiple amounts of time available at a discount with the purchase of a "time card".  People would be able to purchase a set amount of time or they could pre-purchase time with a time card up to 5 hours.  These cards would have punch marks which would be punched as the time was used.  Time cards would not be transferable or be used to buy time for others.  Not allowing others to share a card may seem odd, but a person could buy a 5 hour time card at a discount then provide time for everyone.  The idea of a discount is for the person who spent the money not their friends.

In order to have a race program, you need to make sure time is available for practice and for racing.  You can not race every night of the week.  A race program can be run many different ways.  One is the track owner sets what classes and times when they will race, another is a club decides what they would like to race and talks to the track owner to set it up.  There is also the club which the track owner is involved in and works with the club to see their racing desires are met.  This is probably the best route and the one I would chose to work with.  My race program would have certain classes that I know are best for business along with races that the club members are interested in enough to support.  By having a club and giving a 10% discount to club members I will be instilling a sense of loyalty to the racers.  They would know they can get items as cheap, or close enough to as cheap, to internet prices to prevent them from wanting to go online to purchase.  By giving them part of the say in the classes we race I will have a better idea of what cars and parts to order.  The club would have monthly meetings where racers can voice opinions about the racing and make suggestions.  It would also present a platform to announce upcoming events or rule changes.  To encourage attendance at these meetings the track would be open for a short period before and after the meeting free, plus this is where racers would get their 10% discount cards.

Primary class would be an entry level class.  This would be a flexi class with cars that are commercially available under a specified price.  These cars would be of the flexi class such as but not limited to Champion's Turbo Flex, Parma's Flexi cars, Mosetti Patriots, and JK's C21.  The bodies would be GT or LMP style bodies.  The legal motors would be Hawk 7, Hawk Retro, Falcon 7, or Pro Slot 4002.  Gears would be dependent upon what ever a person decides to use as long as they are 64 pitch.  Tire choice would be open to selection.  This class would have a special race about every 2 months where trophies would be awarded.  The special races would be of various bodies such as Nascar style in February, Indy style in May, Dirt Late Models in July, Florescent painted bodies and black lights in October. etc...

Once a year a special IROC race using rental cars would be run taking racers from qualifiers from different classes.  Example, if you are running three classes, three would qualify from two classes and two from the other class.  A special race would be run on the first week/weekend of the year for all classes.  The winner of all the special races would have their picture taken in Victory Lane and would be put on the wall of honor for the year.  All pictures would be replaced by the winner of the same race the following year.

As stated earlier most slot racers will tend to spend what they can afford on racing.  It is the tracks owners job/responsibility to get as much of that and at as high profit margin as possible with out breaking the loyalty of the racers.  In order to increase profit margins services would be available.  These services would include minor repairs all the way up to car building.  These service jobs would be taken in and would be performed during the off times at the track.  Even a job so small as soldering a lead wire on would have a charge.  Parts would also be modified and sold at a premium price.  Example... you could buy a set of tires for X or for a little more you could buy the same pair that have been trued.  You could buy a new motor for X or for a little more you could buy a motor that has been pre-broken in with a read out of the rpm it turns.  You could buy an RTR car or you could buy the same car for a little more that has had the oilites adjusted so the axle turns more freely, the motor adjusted for proper gears mesh, a Teflon washer placed between the guide flag and tongue, and more.  If a class is run with motors that have removable end-bells you could buy brushes that have been pre-broken in, motors which have the brush hoods aligned, comms turned,, etc...  The idea is to add value to a product then sell it for a higher price.  This means a drastically increased profit margin on those items.  It means more of each dollar spent belongs to the track owner.

Another concept is you make money from track rental, but if no one is running on the track you are not making money.  If no one is running on the track but there are people there, find an excuse for an impromptu race for $1 entry fee.  The winner of this race gets an hour of track time.  In doing this you are not going to make much on the race but you will get people wearing out parts so they have to spend more money.  The track time the winner gets only gives him an excuse to get on the track and wear out braid, gears, tires, etc...  Not bad when no one was spending money any way.  Plus, it will help establish loyalty to the track.

There is no one exact way a track should be run.  All tracks are different and mainly are dependent upon the track owner and his set of values, skills, and personality.  This tells you a little of how my track would be run.  I hope you have enjoyed reading my meanderings.  For those who think it should be read in the toilet, I guess you get what you pay for.

"Somewhat" Super Modifieds

"Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee" does not describe the Super Modifieds with Hawk 7 motors in them.  It is more like, "Fly like a bat out of Hell, hit like a ton of bricks!"  Unfortunately there are those who don't want the challenge to drive a car that is so hard to keep handling well at those speeds.  At their best these little cars go faster than you would expect and are on the edge of losing control most of the time.  If anything goes wrong with the cars they become flying bricks.  These cars are great for a racer who wants a serious challenge.  Personally, I like the speed and the handling of them.  I like the challenge of racing them and then putting them back together for the next race.  Did I mention you need to tear down the car and rebuild it after every race night to make sure it will finish the next race?  Oh, and then there is no guarantee it will finish.

There it is, a two edged sword against the running of Super Modifieds.  A lot of racers don't want to race a car that is as twitchy as these are.  A lot of racers don't want to race a car that takes that much control to finish the race.  A lot of racers just don't want to work on their cars as much as these require.  The result of this is we have seen a reduction in the Super Modifieds that are racing at Charlie's Garage in Pearl, MS.  A lot of people bought these cars, but only a few are willing to put them on the track as they are afraid of destroying their cars.

An answer to this has been proposed and apparently is going forward.  Where we had an open motor rule before, they are looking at changing that rule.  As the rule stands you could run a Hawk 7, Retro Hawk, Falcon 7, Super 16d, Group 20 or any motor you are brave enough to race with.  The new rule would limit these cars to a Hawk 25 motor.  This would take the cars from a 50,000 rpm motor to a 25,000 rpm motor.  The old rule allowed the cars to turn 2.10" laps on a 70' tri-oval.  Testing of the the same cars with the Hawk 25 motors showed laps of 2.97" laps.  The cars were much easier to drive and the wrecks would certainly be less destructive.  Maybe this will bring some of the racers who are more faint of heart out to race.  Maybe this will prevent people from dropping out of the class because they are tired of rebuilding their cars every week.  If it takes slowing these cars down to get more racers, or keep the ones we have, I guess that is what we have to do.

As for me....I will miss the insane speeds and temperamental handling.  If this rule does go through, and it looks like it will, it will not be an easy class to win or be in the top three of all of a sudden.  The people who like to work on their cars will still do so and will find ways to make these "Somewhat Modifieds" faster than they should be.  After my second adjustment to this slower set up my lap times are down to 2.68".  Personally, I plan on totally re-engineering my car to gain more speed.  I will be shooting for a 2.50 lap and being forced to let up in more than one turn because of too much speed.  I plan on working on my car until it deserves the title of "Super Modified" again.

The Perfect Race

The other day I was watching Ralph and Ron's slot car talk show 'Between the Lanes'.  It was mentioned that someone, I can't remember who, almost had a perfect race at one of the nationals or some other big race.  It seems the person they were talking about only had a couple deslots.  A local racer ran a race the other week with only two deslots for the entire race.  This got me thinking, which is a dangerous thing for me to do.  I don't think, alright I know, I have never run a complete race without deslotting.  How many of us have?  Sure, I suppose you could drive slowly and accomplish it.  Even then you would have to be lucky driving slow as someone could clip you in a corner.

The race I am looking for is the "perfect" race.  One where you are competitive and never deslot the entire race.  I am looking for a race where you finish on the podium and have the distinction of never having come off the track even once.  I have run "perfect" rotations, but never an entire race.  Think about it, a race where not only do you not make a mistake in driving, but where you are not involved in someone else's mistakes.  I am looking for a race where you are free from driving flaws, corner marshal flaws, other drivers flaws, and mechanical flaws.  Let's be clear about one thing.  I am not looking for a race where everyone or almost everyone else drops out.  I am looking for a competitive race.

I am sure it has been done.  After all, there have been perfect games pitched in baseball.  There have been perfect games bowled in league and tournament play in bowling.  There have been holes-in-one on golf courses.  Is the slot racing perfect game any less desirable or difficult to obtain as these?  I know I have never been in a race where there was a racer accomplishing this.  Possibly because I caused the deslot to prevent someone from making the perfect race.  Any one of us could be the spoiler in a perfect race.  A corner marshal's unfortunate handling of a deslot could ruin a perfect race.  If you were on the track by yourself it would be hard enough to run all the lanes for 2 or 3 minutes per lane and never deslot.  It is not uncommon for me to rip off 40 laps or so at my home track in practice without deslotting.  However, to run all the lanes back to back that way without deslotting would be difficult.  It would not be impossible, but it would be difficult to keep your focus without making a mistake for that long.  Let's face it, a perfect race does not come around very often.  I think it is something that should be recognized when it does.

I would love to write an article and honor any person who can run the perfect race.  So, I am putting the call out looking for this perfect driving effort.  I will write an article about the racer and make them the racer of the month in the following month here on the Slots New? blog.  What I need is the following:
1. It must be in an organized and scheduled race.  Impromptu races will not be allowed.
2. The race must take place on or after 8/26/2017
3. There must be at least 4 racers on the track for the start of the race AND the finish.
4. The person with a perfect race must be on the podium.
5. The person with a perfect race has to finish in the top 25% of the racers involved in the race.
6. The race director of the race must verify the perfect race.
7. It is preferred that a lap count of each rotation be provided, preferably a picture of the lap counts on a race monitor.
8. The race must take place on a routed commercial grade track.
9. Due to the difficulty of the achievement, a four lane track will be accepted as well as an eight lane.
10. All lanes must be run, it cannot be a four lane rotation on an eight lane track.
11. The lane rotation must be at least two minutes per lane.
12. Breakout classes will not be accepted.  Nor will classes deemed too slow be accepted.
13. No scale below 1/32 will be accepted.
14. Upon reviewing the race if there is any sign of creating the circumstances for a perfect race, man-made or by accident, it will not be accepted.  If the race appears more like a practice run than a competitive race it will not be accepted.  It must be a fully competitive race.
15. Acceptance of a claimed perfect race is at the discretion of the publisher of Slots New? alone.  In other words, me.
16. There are no prizes to accompany this accomplishment, only the recognition of the slot car racing world.
17. If a manufacturer, distributor, track owner, or anyone else would like to place a prize for this accomplishment, notification of it will be posted in Slots New?.  Any manufacturer, distributor, track owner, or any other individual wishing to place a prize for the offering should notify Slots New? at slotsnewmonthly@gmail.com

I wish everyone success in their efforts to have the "perfect" race.  I am truly hoping we can recognize someone for this incredible accomplishment.