Build journal: Buckeye Mountain Raceway, track for live racing
Locally in the Central Ohio area we hold in-person drag racing events using a Derby Magic track system. The one thing that I didn't like about the DM track that the straight sections lay on the floor or ground. Since our track is intended for mobile use I used 1ft tall folding stands to bring it up off the floor but that takes some of the downhill slope away and it's more things to carry and set up. With that in mind something else was needed (wanted actually) so here's our new track frame in the build process. It's 6ft high at the start gate and 40ft long. Instead of a angled drop to a flat section the slope is an arc for the first 20ft and level after thar and the transition is super smooth. It's made up of four 10ft sections and easy enough to load onto an enclosed trailer. Our 3 lane DM track sits on top and it could accommodate more lanes if orange track were used. it still needs a few side panels installed and stained but hopefully that'll be done in a few days.
Discussion
Wow! That looks really nice!
That thing is a beast, Bruno. But it looks awesome and should serve you well. I hope to see it in-person at some point this summer. But I don't envy you having to drag that thing around town for events!
And hopefully there's a little spot for a Redline Derby sticker ;P
- If you can make the event on the 4th and you have something bring graphics with you. If not let me know and I'll pm you my address if you want to mail something. — ChiefWopahoo
@ChiefWopahoo - Are there any plans/blueprints that you could share? This is the kind of support structure that can be scaled well for smaller (and larger) versions.
- The guy who built the track does in fact have the layout and frame design on a cad system and says it can be scaled for different lengths. — ChiefWopahoo
Nice drag build
Thought Id post a follow up to the inaugural Buckeye Mountain Raceway events. Luckily, we were able to finish up the track construction in time for two scheduled in-person events with the only hitch being a section wasn’t completed so it was set up at 32ft instead of the intended 40ft length. We initially were going to build four 10ft sections but ended up going with five 8ft sections for easier transportation. The shorter length worked well though and the 5th section can be added at any time for future events.
It was built at a nearby carpentry shop and the idea was to carry the sections in our 7x14 enclosed trailer. The only concern was of course, will the tallest ramp section fit height wise? As it turns out it will, but by the slimmest of margins. To get it loaded we have to tilt it to clear the upper door frame and once in the very top of the ramp literally clears the roof by less than 1/8th inch. Whew...
We got it home and unloaded it, set it up in the driveway, secured the first track piece with the start gate, mounted the Derby Magic electronics inside the main ramp and added the rest of the 3 lane track and finish gate. The first track piece will stay mounted to the frame and the rest added during setup. We ran a few test races and tweaked some things then tried to apply graphics, but it was to windy for that. Everything seemed ready so we took it down and reloaded it for it maiden race the next day.
The first event was a local event that consisted of two races and a Final Championship to determine our season champion. We arrived at the site, unloaded it and put everything together and tested it in less than an hour. The set up is very stable and stout but light enough for my wife to help unload but we did decide to add some handles to make it easier to carry. The event went well with no hiccups, and we crowned our season champion. Perfect.
The next event was a large custom diecast convention about 2 hours from home. It was being held in a city hotel with garage parking. Since we weren’t sure if trailer parking was even an option, we called the hotel and found out that they did have a large truck parking area but no room for trailers – that was blocks away in a private lot. We didn’t want to leave our trailer that far away, so we rented a Uhaul box truck to carry the track. The trip went fine but when we got to the hotel, we found that the ballroom where the track was to be set up was on an upper floor – with no service elevator big enough for the track sections. Even the lobby was on an upper floor, and all drop off points had stairways. Our only option was a wide stairway that made several 180 degree turns and was on the other side of the hotel. Oh boy... No way my wife and I were carrying the track up stairwells and 200ft across the hotel. The event organizer was on top of things though and he had a crew at the ready to do the work and they made it look easy. So up it went, assembly was a breeze, everything worked, and we were ready to race in no time.
The actual event was a charity race where the event organizer (CS Customs) made 100 custom painted Camaros that entrants would then buy to race. They got to pick a number and one of four colors but otherwise the cars were the same. A portion of the revenue went to a charity with portions going to the top 3 winners as well. We ran all 100 cars in a single elimination style race, 3 at a time with the winner moving on to the next round. When we got to the final 3 we switched the system to a drag race mode where the entrant started their own car real drag-race style. We ran 3 races with each car in each lane and the best average gave us the final order. When it was all done all the entrants got to keep their custom car. All in all it went great and we’ve been asked to do it again next year, which we will do but it will be expanded with racing on Friday and Saturday. I didn’t get a lot of pics but attached are a few in random order.
Speaking of next years event we are going to do the charity "spec" race on Friday as we did this year but the Saturday races will be dedicated to the racing builders with several different themes - we're hoping to attract all of you to come race. At the moment everything will be in-person events (so get yourself to Florence KY on June 7th-9th, 2024) but we're considering a mail in option as well.
- Very cool. Thanks for sharing all the photos. Track looks solid...although it without that extra section there's not a lot of straightaway. Can't wait to see this thing run in person. — redlinederby
- It doesn’t seem to show up in the pics but at the length shown is very close to 50/50 in regards to slope vs straight away. It was hard to get a full picture from the side. There was quite a bit of passing where one car would make it to the straight first yet lose by a hair. Since all of the cars were mechanically “stock” that was pretty interesting. — ChiefWopahoo
Very cool. Great build and I'm glad the event got situated. It looks like everyone had a great time.
That is a very nice looking setup! Congrats!
FredD
it is amazing
public play, too!!
dr
Top Notch right there! Keep going!
That is awesome man! Really good idea to do a mobile racetrack and love what your doing!
Awesome track, Love this idea of being mobile... Great Job!!!
that is nice. the long curve transition should make even real low cars cook.
very nice craftmanship, and looks like a pretty cool shop, too
we based our table on a basic stool design
hard to see, but its 8 1/2" plywood "trapazoids"top deck is:
4 1/4" x 6" plywood strips overlapped and glued as one long solid strip
anyways nice job!
keep posting as it goes along!
dr