Page 2 of 2

Outdoor track?

Jump to first page

Sorry to ping an old thread but I wanted to share my experiences with my outdoor track.  I used my dragstrip in the backyard alot this past summer and fall. It was not perfect as my lawn isn't totally flat blah blah blah but I sure had fun with it!  The pictures are not of the fully assembled setup as I did this in my living room tonight.

For the base for the track I use stainless steel drywall frames (under $5 each at HD).  They are 10' long. It fits 2 HW Orange side by side perfectly!  Nice high walls on the sides is a bonus.  Last year I used velcro to hold the starting area down to the steel.  It stayed put.  You can tell by the edges of the frames that they do bend pretty easily. When they bend, they stay bent.  If you go this route handle them with care when moving them around, even coming back from the store after you buy them.  I found if I layer/stack 2 on top of each other, doubling their thickness and bind them along the edges using duct tape, it makes them more rigid and has the added bonus of covering any sharp edges. 

Without the track on there, it is (mostly) smooth, slippery...and noisy!  You can use the steel without the track for some open road action but I think it is too narrow to make for exciting races.  However with all that awesome noise and slick surface I think finding a piece an inch or so wider would make for a wild open track section.   

As it is stainless steel, I could leave the track piece outside but since my dog is out there and I have a HOA that frowns on "yard ornaments", I put it in the garage when I'm done for the day.  

I elevate it using an old "for display only" tri-pod light stand I had in my garage that I got free from a music store several years ago. It's the kind of stand that bands use to elevate their lights in nightclubs, just shorter.  As this stand had a hole in the top, I stuck a pvc pole in the hole so I can raise and lower the stand using the stand's pin system.  I attach a PVC t-top to the post (not pictured) and then velcro that to the bottom of the steel track.  It's very sturdy thanks to the stand.  

Since the speaker stand uses pin and hole for height adjustment I can raise and lower the gate height easily.  The picture below is at the highest extension we used last summer.  The track wasn't long enough to go any higher without the cars skipping on the track due to the steep angle.  Notice the piece of track at the bottom for scale.  The cars go stupid fast from up there.  At this height we were standing on chairs to launch.  


 For $10 for the steel track material and the recycled stuff from my garage I'm pretty happy with what I came up with.  I haven't tried the fire pit idea yet...but I have one so thanks for the idea :)  When using it for drag racing I put turns at the end to send the cars back to the start.  We do loops, jumps and stunt stuff in the yard too.  It's a good time.  



  • Great idea!!!!! — Rusty
  • I have an old surround sound speaker stand that I occasionally use the same way. Right now, I'm using if to hold a light over the finish lin — 72_Chevy_C10
View member profile
Chopper 2/10/16

Wanted to share my outdoor track that I set up this weekend. Have been planning it in my head for a while, and finally got a dry day to try it out. This is a smaller version of what I'd like to host a tournament on later this year, but was able to learn a lot from it. Idea is to put a 3bot finish line prior to the open track section of the course, and basically have two events, drag race and open track, plus a combined champion.

http://youtu.be/DfDDF9Q2ZDs

Let me know what you think!


  • nice- the track's variation keeps things interesting — Skuxmobile
  • Cool, Chopper! I think I need to do a one-shot open track race sometime...when I get time! :) — 72_Chevy_C10
  • Nice thing about outdoor tracks vs indoor: a heck of a lot more room! — Steele_Mill_Racing

to join the conversation or sign-up now