A popular hobby that some consider to be a sport is slot car racing. Many collectors look for special miniature race cars that are built especially to run on a slot car race track. The slot track serves as a guide for the car to run on. Most of the cars used in rc car racing are replicas of popular real life race cars, like the ones in Nascar or the Indy Cup. Most of the cars used in a slot car race have been commercially manufactured, but there are some avid hobbyists who like to modify the commercial ones or motorize some of the more elaborate static ones. Some will even go so far as to design and fabricate their own cars.
The slot car racing world is made up of a variety of different racing enthusiasts. Some, like little boys, choose to just race commercially built slot cars in the basement or a garage somewhere. Others will go to any extreme to participate in highly publicized races that require specially built or modified cars that perform at high levels not normally seen in hobby rc car racing. Most of these slot car race competitions pay good money to the winner. Those who are not really interested in competitively racing slot cars may choose to simply collect the cars and will work on creating a custom car racing slot track, similar to the ones produced by model train aficionado’s.
Slot car racing requires a special kind of track. It has a slot that is designed to guide the car as it travels the path of the track. There are metal strips on either side of the slot that transfer power to the car as it passes over it. The car has a very low-voltage electric motor in it and is controlled by a hand-held unit. This controller allows only the speed of the car to be adjusted. However, this is the key point in successfully navigating the course of the track, as the momentum must be carefully controlled to keep the car in its slot, and not allowing it to jump off of the track. Doing so will result in disqualification from a slot car race.
Magnet traction is used to help keep the car in its track during slot car racing. It is legal, but it is not liked by many rc car racing enthusiasts. This is because many feel that it takes away the advantage of the rear swing of the car and the ability to use propulsion to an advantage around curves. They also feel it takes away from the original notion and challenge of rc car racing.
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