My Hot Wheels race track debuts
For those of you that have followed my Hot Wheels race track project, you know I’ve been a lot of talk without much action. Eh, that’s how it goes sometimes. But it is with great pleasure that I can say the track will make its first public appearance at the CAVEradio Picnic next weekend. Time and destruction took its toll on the track but I’m done messing around with it waiting for perfection. Let’s race!
Starting over with a focus on fun
Last summer (or so) I took a weekend and built myself a Hot Wheels race track. One meant for derby racing. Forget your loop-de-loops and shark attack jumps. This is a straight up downhill drag strip. But then I got hung up on the finish line and the starting gate. I bartered a co-worker to make me a fancy electronic finish gate system. It works but it doesn’t. The electronics work just fine, but not in the environment in which I have the race track. I had a finish gate that worked great…until a dog knocked it over and it broke. However, that literal break in the action ended up being a good thing because it took me out of it for a bit and I came back with a little fresher mind less hell bent on trying to get a league-quality.
I built myself a new starting gate, this time a little simpler with some basic lever action, and for a finish line I’m just using the playset finish line I had the entire time. Go figure. Now with a finish line in place and a starting gate that works just fine, I (we) can focus on the fun part - racing!
Screw it, lets just race!
At the CAVEradio Picnic we’ll just have the track up for anyone that wants to play. I’ll have a case of cars but people will hopefully bring their own cars too. And while just picking a random car is probably the fairest method of car racing, it’s also the most boring. Sure, it’s easy and great for a quick play, but if you really want a fast car you have to search for it — or make it.
Finding a fast Hot Wheels car is pretty straight forward. You go to Target or Walmart and buy yourself a good $5 worth of cars, you shoot them down a ramp and you find out which one is fastest. Simple. However in my experience it seems the most uninteresting cars are always the fastest. There is definitely a set of characteristics that clue you in as to whether a car will be fast or not, but that doesn’t mean the car will have style.
Me, I like the cars that look good, and to me that means some classic-styling, pre-1980, “real world” models. Something along the lines of a Chevelle or Super Bee, although I enjoy my import formula race cars as well. Unfortunately most muscle cars suck in derby runs when taken straight from the box, so they need some help, and this is what I enjoy.
It’s not finding a car that is fast, it’s making the car you want go fast.
Tesla Roadster? It’s fast without modification. Dodge Demon? Needs a little bit of help to get up to speed but it looks 100 times cooler ripping down the track. Not only does it look bad ass but it sounds much more respectable when you tell people…or maybe that’s just in my head. I dunno, but I’d rather have some 1960s Charger smoke down the track and beat a Ferrari convertible than race that Ferrari myself.
Of course, taking the time and effort to modify a car to race well leaves me in the minority…at least around here…which is fine. I can have fun racing stock cars just as much racing modded cars. I think the solution to making stock car derby is simply limiting races to classes. Group them year, make, model, whatever. Not only will you have great looking cars each time but you’ll find out which cars from each respective class is fastest.
For those of you that were ready to join me for Hot Wheels derbies last year, I’m sorry…but it’s ready now, so come join me at the CAVEradio Picnic and we can race. If you beat me in a race I’ll give you a CAVEradio sticker (assuming they get here in time). And if you’re coming, stop at Target on your way and buy two or three cars that look fast and we’ll put them to the test.
And wouldn’t you know, I forgot to bring the starting line to the picnic! But even without, the kids and old folks loved the Hot Wheels.
Hi there,
Thanks for your recent comments on building a racetrack for my son! I am still working on a finish line, I cant believe there are no makers out there making a mechanical finish line like the one on “Hot wheels 4 lane raceway. Your article on blutrack also helped. Now Im checking out “www.expertracers.com” also called “dragtracks” whats your thought on this one???
Saludos
Well, personally, I think the Drag Track looks a little flimsy but it does have all the trimmings. The light tree, nice finish line, timer…all stuff that would be sweet to have.
Downsides I see just from the video on their site is the length. It’s only 13-feet, which to me is a bit short but that depends on the space you have too. And despite all the fancy trimmings, the $80 seems kind of steep to me. But I guess that’s because I spent less than $80 on my track in total.
All in all it probably depends how much effort you want to spend. If you like building stuff and want a custom track that can be as long as you want, then I’d say build your own…especially if you can turn it into a parent+child project. But if you’re wanting a race track that’s fast and easy, then the $80 is worth the extras and the convenience.
But I would want to know if the Drag Tracks is compatible with Hot Wheels track. Then you could expand it as much as you wanted with other parts.
I agree with you it does look flimsy, and very easy to fall, specially if there will be a bunch of 6-7 year old kids. Yes you can extend it, however it is $20 +$7 shipping for 4 tracks (not sure how long are each of the tracks). Considering they sell their parts I doubt that is Hot Wheels compatible : ( . In general I also thought it was a too expensive ($80 + $18 shipping, + $27 tracks, etc).
But, was over at home depot and walmart (V drop and tracks) trying to get an estimate of the material, and considering my husband is not so handy, therefore would need some one to help me out, and the cost kept rising, But, still hoping I can do this project myself this weekend following all your instructions! And hoping I can do it with a DREMEL tool. So be prepared for a bunch of questions : )!!! By the way any pictures of how you put V drops finish line to your track?
Thanks again for your prompt reply.
The V-Drop finish line just connects with the normal orange track that comes with the V-Drop. And since the orange track just sits on top of the wood planks there’s nothing special to setup for it, which is why I kind of like the homemade version of shelf - it’s more flexible. I can take some more photos of the full setup and will upload them to the Redline Derby site so you
I think the V-Drop 2-lane set came with 12-feet of track itself, so I just bought a few more pieces in a pack at Walmart to get my 15-20 feet and I was set. The Walmart track packs have five, 1-foot pieces for $3. A good deal if you ask me.
But you could probably get all you need just from the V-Drop set. Just build the plank racetrack with $20 of wood from Home Depot and you have a sturdy race track. You don’t even need a Dremel. Just a saw, a hammer, and a screwdriver.
http://www.redlinederby.com/build-your-own-redline-derby-race-track/
Have fun building! I hope you can take some photos and share them over at the Redline Derby forum.