I Have a Question - What Would You Build?

[ElSecundo]

If I was building a routed oval, I'd build the same type of track I routed years ago -- 6-lane quad-oval with squeezes and 10 degree banking. I gave that track to one of the guys in the club, and it's one of the most fun tracks we have. The straights are just long enough (18 feet) that a lower speed car with great handling can hang with cars with much faster motors. There are four distinct corners, so you don't drive to the end of a straight and follow a constant-radius corner until the next straight. Each lane is significantly different. The banking is realistic-looking, and drives great, with lots of room on the outside. You can drive that track for 6 hours straight and not get bored.

A key to this track is that it was hand-routed. I used a fence, but each lane was done independently -- no jig. Each lane has its own distinct 'feel', and its own distinct advantages and disadvantages. I would not have this track CNC routed.

[ElSecundo]

[ElSecundo]

Hey, if it's on the list, get with Rob or Chip and make it happen. You have a place to stay! It's a little over 2 hours from my house, so we get up bright and early (err, dark and early), we buy tickets on race day outside the track, and make a day of it. I still get goosebumps every time we get near the track, and start hearing the engines. :)

[ElSecundo]

[moparjenny]

hehe Many people outside of the family don't know my dad as "Chip." ;)

I'll join in!

[ElSecundo]

[SpeedyNH]

hi Kurt,
got any pix of that cool indy track? i'm curious to see what you did.
thsanks!
el speedo

[ElSecundo]

The fun part is that three of the four corners have squeezes. Lanes 1 and 2 squeeze in Turn 1, lanes 3 and 4 squeeze in Turn 2, lanes 5 and 6 squeeze in Turn 3, and there are no squeezes in Turn 4. So everybody deals with the potential for one squeeze per lap. Coming off an 18 foot straight into a squeeze makes things pretty interesting. :)

[Abarth Mike]

In UK and Holland they run Slotstox on small ovals. It is a contact sport! So the lanes are squeezed for almost half the lap but there maybe some cross over?

[ElSecundo]

Wow, just checked out that Slotstox you mentioned. 'Contact sport' is right! Looks like fun once in a while, but it could be kind of hard to live with. I can only do so much carnage and mayhem. :)

[ElSecundo]

[SpeedyNH]

hi Kurt,
thanks for the pix! that's pretty darn clever.

when i was a kid, i raced midgets (monogram of course) on a short oval where all the lanes were identically shaped and offset diagonally from each other. this meant that there were crossovers at the end of each straight, with the outside lane cutting to the inside and vise versa. so now of course, all the midgets i have left now are missing body pieces, arms, etc.
but i like how your squeezes are distributed.
speedy

[ElSecundo]

Thanks, Speedy! The goal was to avoid confining the drivers with too many squeezes. On an oval, folks want to open it up a little! So there was a choice on the last corner: squeeze all the lanes at once, or leave it wide open. One big squeeze might have disrupted the flow too much. Very happy with the result. :)

Do you remember a bullring track that was posted here years ago, that looked like it was 9 lanes? It was actually three lanes -- for each car to wind up where it started, the car went around three times (a slightly different line each time). The track criss-crossed all over the place, and it was amazing! What you're describing reminds me of that track. :)

[Nor Cal Mike]

I think that would be Woody's track.

[SpeedyNH]

yes i do remember it! but only caught just the glimpse, one or two narrow shots. does it still exist?
i didn't notice anybody else talking about it at the time and was new to these forums when i saw it. couldn't tell if the lanes crossed over each or just all crossing the previous lap's line, which is what it looked like. always wanted to see more of it. a lot of work was spent on our crossovers to get them smooth. and this track looked like it had a ton of 'em!
it's been in the back of my mind for decades to maybe build another one.
i noticed your last corner being squeeze-free, and have to agree with the concept- you just want to make it interesting, not overly constricted, or you might as well build a road course. probably would have made it really crashy there too. well thought out.