Diecast Racing Rules and Definitions

Have popcorn will wait! 

giraffe

Thanks for sharing DSC...that's a great outline of rules folks can use for the races. I like that you covered all the experiences ranges too. It can be discouraging to be a rookie amongst a field of vets. I think having more rookie-only races and even stock races would be very helpful for everyone.

One thing you kinda touch is when hosts are writing up their rules and policies, it's better to over-communicate than under communicate. Hosts should think about how and what they're going to police and what they can't or won't, and make sure their rules account for that. 

I like the rules.  Host a race and let's try them out.  I would love to send something to your track.  

"No wheel sanding" for stocks--It could be irritating for a host to try to enforce the surface finish of every wheel on top of everything else. As a beginner, I agree stock races are good for beginners! But, wheel sanding is cheap and easy to do, even for a beginner like me. For reference, I got a pack of assorted sandpaper grits for $7.50 on amazon. 

This man explains how to sand wheels very well at the 26 minute mark: youtu.be/np2jfx9SUp8?si=29BI3XR0LJYgfpLB&t=26m  (I found if you want to avoid the terrible noise he talks about, you can sand wheels on top of a newspaper, mousepad, or other relatively soft surface)

With that said, I like that you're thinking of how to make the hobby easier for others to get into. I have taken this up as a hobby because people have been kind to me on this forum, and hosts are accepting of any entry to their track. That is definitely a sentiment I wish to pay forward to help this community continue to grow! 

I like the idea of categories...so when hosting a race the host references if the race will be a cat-1 (basically a rip-n-race) or cat-4 (open modified, super mod) or whatever...and there is a basic understanding of what to expect from all sides...

To me the importance is knowing the rules and host enforcing the rules and then people deciding what is for them and what is not. I learned early on in hosting races that you had to think of everything because people are creative and if it ain't in the rules then it's left for interpretation. Racing in all forms is like this. People push the envelope and then a new rule is put in place. 
When I started racing stock cars I literally sent in stock cars. No graphite or anything. Then I started seeing black stuff on the paint and found out what graphite was and started using graphite. Then I noticed shiny wheels and realized wheels were being sanded or treated in some way. These were times when info was much harder to get than even now. There were few videos on diecast racing and hosts were mum about it or turned a blind eye and you just had to learn as you went along

When I started hosting races I saw wheel treatment  of all kinds in stock cars. Many times I wasn't sure at what I was seeing. But I did figure out that I didn't want to be the judge of what was sanded, what wasn't, what was graphite infused, what was polished, what was rolled over an emery pad ect ect. So the easy thing to enforce was sanding is allowed and if you didn't take the car apart or add weight then it was stock.  Many believe a car isn't stock the minute you add graphite. As a matter of fact at the Hot Wheels convention you can't race graphited cars.

Bottom line is read the rules. If you like the rules join the race if you don't then don't and find one that suited your needs, if you don't understand the rules or they are not clear ask. There are no shortage of races to go around. I just don't see a National recognized set of rules for diecast racing that is regulated and common amongst all hosts. That isn't practical.

Yup....everything BlueLine said. Hosts can make all the rules they want but if they're not willing to enforce them, then it doesn't matter. It might weed out a few honest souls but people will push to the edge of what's allowed.

Like BLR, when I was hosting, I decidedly did not want to spend a ton of time inspecting cars and enforcing a bunch of super-detailed rules. One, I couldn't because in many situations you just can't tell without taking things apart. Two, I also didn't want to deal with the "penalty" of those things. If someone fails the inspection then what? They can't race? Then that throws off my whole bracket or whatever...it just made for more problems on my end. 

My solution was to very much rely on people being honest and fair...which usually worked out pretty well. Maybe it was easier years back when I did most of my hosting, but there were few reasons to overtly cheat anyway. There were no real prizes or anything, so I honestly felt like that was policing enough. 

I think my minimum rule for stock racing was you couldn't add or remove anything of substance to the cars. Graphite was fine but nothing internal/external that was not already present. It was easy to police and I probably also felt like that anything anyone would do to try and get an advantage would be negligible or offset by my track, which wasn't 100% even and accurate anyway. 

All that said...having some good guidelines as to what is expected from racers and what they should expect from the host is the foundation of a good race. Yeah, shit happens but you deal with it. But now that there is seemingly an abundance of racing, if you're hosting a race and someone doesn't like how you're doing it, they likely won't come back...but most folks will probably stick around. A good chunk of people will appreciate how you run things and they'll stick around. Those are the folks you want racing with you anyway.

"The goal is to keep the hobby accessible and affordable."

I respectfully disagree.  The goal is racing serious competition.  Nascar, NHRA, and Redline are the best of the best.  If nascar/nhra decided to run showroom stock cars as it's "big draw class" it would not be the same level of action.  and ultimately be boring, and then fans lose interest.

The building is the challenge.  and the box stock car option does not make it cheaper.
Many would buy a dozen or two of the same car to try to find the one fastest,
or
I can buy 2 castings, a couple castings for wheels and drill and swap.

stock rip it opens rely upon chance of the build from mattel, not builder's skill
and thats fine for a group fun activity, where only a few, if any would know how to mod/tune a car.

"I recommend that host have a database on what stock cars weigh with their plus and minus allowed. Identical cars are usually not the same weight but they shouldn’t have an obvious difference"

that is more work for the host, and to what use is it?  set a max weight and go with it.
(BTW do you know how many varients of a single casting are? some appear identical, but are not the same, it would be thousands of entries)

"Track host should make a video showing how to perform the sanding. When hosting a race they can reference their video on the procedure."

there are plenty of vids out there, reinventing the wheel, more work for host

"This hobby is already way too expensive."

Again, disagree.  a car is a buck, postage is <$10.  
This is the cheapest level competition for the fun you can have. ,Unless you are buying rare $200 cars to drill rivots...lol

Have you entered any races? If not, you should.  You will learn alot

Build a track, set some rules, host an event and I'll send a drilled modded car. 

dr