Great day of fun today, racing on Variation Jason's track!
My house backs up to what used to be the main airport here in Austin, just north of downtown.
They closed it years ago and transformed an old Air Force base into the new airport.
The old airport is slowly being redeveloped with commercial, shopping and residential neighborhoods...pretty good job.
Part of the old airport that remained is a WWII era wooden airplane hangar...it's wood because steel was being used for the war effort.
That is where I spent most of my day today playing with diecast cars on my 25' race track and Variation Jason's monster 8 lane 50' track. As part of a little celebration I was asked to bring my track out for the kiddos. Jason was kind enough to drive 2 hours and bring is massive (put my track to shame) 50' track. He only got 5 lanes operational but it was a blast and I can't wait to build my 50' track now. It's so different from my track, cars that I thought were duds...were killing it on the long track. It makes a huge difference.
I now have a slight advantage on the mail in race for Nashville since I got to use the track that will be there...and I have to tell you...you guys better bring your best game there because Jason has built some insanely fast rides. My fastest got creamed by one of his retired worn out cars.
Was great seeing Jason again and hanging out, thanks again for bringing out the track.
The kids loved both the tracks, I brought about 30 loose cars that basically ended getting destroyed over the course of the day...kids are so brutal! But I only lost 2 or 3 cars and came home with a few that weren't mine...and I got a Land Rover from Jason
I'll put up some pics soon.
bryan
Discussion
Great story and awesome pics! That old wooden hanger looks totally cool and perfect for Hot Wheel racing. The first picture of Bryan's track with Jason's dwarfing it in the background is hilarious
My track is about the same length as Bryan's and I always thought it was pretty big. Now I know better. My favorite picture is the one of the four cars beginning their decent down Jason's white track. I so want to see that monster track in live action some day. Jason~ are you ever coming out west with your track???
Holy crap that first picture of the two tracks is soo funny!! Ahahahaha...but you know what, Jobe, at least we don't need a semi truck to haul around our baby board tracks! They might not look like much but in the end, all you need is a hill and some track.
That being said, I need to do some work on my track to make it a little sturdier and more consistent.
That hangar looks like a great place to play, I wish there was some place like that around here. It's great to see a few clear shots of your catch box too, Jobe. I like how you incorporated the playset finish line with the "after track" - did you do any altering on the finish line itself, or is that extra length of track after the line just sitting next to it?
Good stuff. Great to see.
Man, I had a blast. I loved the hanger (and the Austin bike zoo!)
The gravel made it a bit awkward as we had to carry the sections, but everything laid out nicely. I had forgotten a couple of rolls at the house so I didn't have all eight lanes up and running, but the five lanes was more then enough.
Brian was forced into a day long test session since his cars had performed so differently on the track, lol. I got to do some short track racing and loved it. Brian's track is very cool and the best gravel magnet around!
I will admit the track is ridiculously huge, a total P.I.T.A. to transport and set up but once it's up and running it's all worth it. Just the reactions alone make it a fun day.
The farthest west the track goes is Las Vegas. It's actually the only western location, lol. It's there every February at the Super Convention!!!
The next stops for this year will be in Nashville, Dyersville, Iowa (maybe), Dallas and San Antonio
...but you know what, Jobe, at least we don't need a semi truck to haul around our baby board tracks!
The funny part is Brian's truck has a longer bed then mine.
It's great to see a few clear shots of your catch box too, Jobe. I like how you incorporated the playset finish line with the "after track" - did you do any altering on the finish line itself, or is that extra length of track after the line just sitting next to it?
Good stuff. Great to see.
Brian
I did have to modify the finish line a little, mainly adding a divider in the front as the cars sometimes would be riding the inside and hit the finish line. It works great now and I rarely have an issue with it. I need to find another as I'm afraid this one is going to get broken sometime. After the finish line are two sections of track just velcro'd down to the wood box.
I put a section of kitchen sponge at the end of the box, get it damp and it stops the cars with no damage. I would like to spend a little time and make the box a little nicer. The finish line itself slows the cars down a tad.
The next stops for this year will be in Nashville, Dyersville, Iowa (maybe), Dallas and San Antonio
Keep me updated on Dyersville--that is within driving distance--about 100 miles for me. Home of Ertl toys and the Field of Dreams (movie).
Our league track is 48 feet long, but the hill on this track is much more intense.
Question, how do you guys clean your tracks? I imagine after an outdoor race like this one I'm sure a bunch of dirt and debris was blown onto the track through out the day. I just hosed it down the first time I cleaned it, but then it had calcium deposits when I checked it after that. I use bottled water now and just run it down from the top, but I notice it doesn't really get it clean. Is it safe to scrub it or should I be using like a microfiber cloth or something?
I wipe mine down with a damp paper towel. I've also used a 50/50 combo of Simple Green and water to really clean it.
Mine gets pretty dirty since it sits on the ground essentially and most of the places I set up are in gravel.
Have a hard time getting the graphite off the track, but it kind of looks like a real race track that way.
I just run a kitchen sponge under the tap, squeeze out all the extra water and run it up and down my track. Works great. No residue or scratches. I do this each time I setup the track.
I hit mine with a magic eraser. Those things work on EVERYTHING!!!
The Iowa gig is the Johnny Lightning "Lightning Fest" There are some seriously fast cars out there... you better bring a badass hot wheel if your gonna race with the JL boys, lol. I'm just happy I have some very fast JLs.
I don't have all of the details, I still have to talk to Tom Z and see what they expect to have.
Photos!