Oval Tracks

[Kemtronracer]

I'm in the planning stages for another routed track. It will be approximately 6' X 20". For you oval racers out there, do you prefer a "D" oval, or a paperclip design, or a tri-oval?

[Halfj-7]

My track ended up being a tri-oval due to the way I banked the corners. I really like it, over say a paperclip, since the front and back stretches have to be driven slightly different. I can go deep into corner 1, but have to let up a little early into 3. My track is 16' long, and around 7 wide, 4 lanes at 4.25" spacing.
When I made a corner, I laid out all 4 lanes plus inside and outside edges on a full sheet of 1/2" MDF. I didn't go a full 180 degrees (turn 1 and 2), instead I stopped at 170 degrees. Then routed just the inside lane. I did the same thing for 3 and 4, just mirror imaged 1 and 2.
Then I cut it out the inside and outside edges. Laid it on the table and used a ratchet strap at widest point to pull it into a bank, trying to get to 180 degrees. Didnt quite make it, but I lined up the back stretch at right angles to corners and screwed it all down with shims under the banking. The front stretch was rough in with and I used a home made plastic/flexible fence to do the inside lane. Search engine "Luf's router fence" for an idea.
Once the inside lane was done, I made a router guide out of plexi-glass and a couple pins and routed out the other lanes like you would on any other track. Routing on top the banking was a worry at first, but ended up just fine.

[Kemtronracer]

Do you have a picture of your track that you can post. I would be interested to see how this turned out.

[Halfj-7]

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5259

Its on here from a few years back. Long Creek Speedway. Not to be confused with my road course with similar name.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Depends on your space I suppose. A "D" or Tri-Oval is nice if you have room.

I stayed basic and never regretted it.



20 feet is a good stretch. For 1/32, 18 is more than enough. Suppose the number of lanes will dictate overall length. Anything longer just ends up being a "motor" track. Being that ALL motors have a variance, and the longer the straights then the side by side racing is diminished. Even a couple hundred RPM will basically kill the equality.

I have had ovals 24 and 20. The best have been 18 or 16. Good close racing.

[olskoolslotz]

My intentions are to build a replica of this 7/16 mile short track that I used to race at, the outer large track. The radius of turns 1 and 2 are 2/3's that of turns 3 and 4, and turns 4 and 1 align. The highest elevation is the exit of turn two, turns 1 and 2 are banked more than the relatively flat turns 3 and 4. This was a fun track to race on so I'm hopeful that will transition well to smaller scale. I want something driving a bit different at each end.

[Kemtronracer]

20 feet is a good stretch. For 1/32, 18 is more than enough.

We'll be running 1/25th scale hardbodies and Womps. I thought about shortening it to 16', but the table is already there.

[RichD]

Another option with routed tracks is that you can have squeeze sections that are different at each end of the track. For example I have seen a four lane track that squeezed lanes 1 and 2 at one end and lanes 3 and 4 at the other end.

[GTOking]

The 7/16th mile track shown would make a great slot car oval track. I wish I had the width to build a track with such a wide radius turns as 3 and 4. My experience is a 1/32 scale home wood track works best with 6-8 degrees of banking max. On the track shown, I would bank turns 1 and 2 at the 6-8 degrees and turns 3-4 I would shim the outer edge about half an inch for a slight bank of maybe 2 degrees. It would drive really well. Whatever you build, make a plan that suits you and then plan some more! You cant over plan a wood track. Good luck!