How mail-in diecast racing works

redlinederby Saturday, 4/28/2018
Site manager

Mail-in diecast racing is what it sounds like: You send diecast cars to somone (the host), and they race it for you against other entrants. The host reports the results, share highlights, and then sends your cars back (sometimes with prizes).

  1. Find a race
  2. Find a car...or make one
  3. Mail your cars to the track
  4. Watch the highlights
  5. Get your cars back

We help organize tournaments by crowdsourcing diecast race tracks found in homes and clubs all around the country. Just find a tournament that sounds fun, find a car (or make one) you think will be fast, and then mail it to the host for racing.

Modified racing is a lot like the classic Pinewood Derby racing you might have done when you were a kid. We do a lot of the same things like adding weight, polishing axles and stuff like that, but instead of cars made out of wood, we use Hot Wheels.

Diecast racing is a fun, affordable hobby that can be enjoyed by all ages. If you enjoy racing, science, cars, toys and meeting new people, you'll have fun here at Redline Derby Racing.


First, find your race

Check out the Racing section to find a race that sounds fun and interesting. Tournament themes and restrictions can vary in different ways, from simple aesthetics to specific wheels & axles. If you're new to racing, try a tournament that allows stock entries or without a lot of modification limitations.

Find a car...or make one

This is the fun part. Once you know the tournament rules, it's time to find (or build) a car that meets the criteria.  Just make sure your is car ready and shipped before the posted deadline.

Finding and making a fast car involves a lot of trial-and-error...sometimes even boiling down to the very unscientific method of "that car looks fast." Just take your time, have fun and test on your home track before you ship. And if you don't have a home track, our Track Building Guide is a good place to start.

Send in your car

When you're happy with your car, it's time to pack it up and ship it out. Read through the tournament details to get the shipping address or contact the race host. Make sure you print out and include an Entry ID Card with your entry so the host can keep everything organized.

The cost of shipping is on you...so you're in control of how much you spend. On average, you can spend as little as $5 to get a single car shipped anywhere in the domestic United States (via USPS). Or you can spend more to make sure your car has extra packaging, priority delivery and so on. Just make sure you always get a tracking number.

Return shipping cost should also be included with your entry.

Check out PirateShip for easy and discounted shipping. Labels, tracking, etc...

Time to race!

Once all the entries are received, the tournament host will race on their track, reporting results on the web site along with photos and/or video. Since our tournaments are crowdsourced, the duration of tournaments can vary. Most happen over the course of a weekend while others can take longer...it just depends on the number of entries and what else is going on in life. We're just regular folks here...playing with our toy cars.

Getting your cars back

You should include return shipping money with your entry if you want your cars returned after the tournament. The host is not obligated to pay for return shipping. It is recommended you include at least the same amount you spent on entry shipping. If you do not include return shipping, your cars become property of the host and they can do with them as they please. Most often, cars that don't get returned will be added to the tournament prize pot and sent to the winner.

Prizes and rewards

Some tournaments offer prizes to the winner but this not guaranteed and is usually up to the host to provide. Sometimes prizes are physical rewards, like collector cars or trophies, and sometimes the prize is any entries left behind. Prizes are great and all, but we ask that if you're here just to win stuff then you might consider looking elsewhere.

It's just a game, so let's have fun

Diecast racing is a fun hobby that is accessible to just about everyone. You can get as hardcore or as casual as you want...just have fun finding cars, building cars and racing cars is all we ask. But remember, we're just racing toy cars...


Are you running races?

If you're running your own diecast races or are a member of a race club, you can add your events to the racing calendar so others can join and follow all the action.

If you're interested in hosting a mail-in tournament, first read through our hosting guidelines and then post your event for all to see.