Track building with my son

The Beginning of JJ’s Diecast Racing – Building Our Track ?????????

Every great racing series has to start somewhere, and for us, it all began with an idea to build something that my son JJ and I could enjoy together.

Welcome to JJ’s Diecast Racing – A Father and Son Production!

The idea was simple: take our collection of diecast cars, build our own race track and see which cars really are the fastest. But what started as a bit of fun soon turned into a much bigger project!

Building the Track

We wanted to build something a little different from your usual Hot Wheels track. We was inspired by 3dbot maker and other excellent YouTube channels. Our aim was to create a proper downhill racing circuit, complete with sweeping corners, long straights and plenty of opportunities for some close racing.

After plenty of planning, measuring and experimenting, we started putting together our very own two-lane gravity-fed track. The cars would race side by side, relying purely on gravity, with no motors or assistance.

The track has taken shape with an 11-foot downhill straight leading into our first 180-degree corner, followed by another 8-foot section to the second corner and a further 7-foot run to the finish line. We've also added a jump section after the finish to give the cars one last bit of excitement!

Of course, getting everything straight, smooth and consistent hasn't always been easy. There have been plenty of adjustments, testing and a few changes along the way.

???? More Than Just a Track

We soon realised that we wanted more than just two cars racing down a piece of track. We wanted to create our own racing experience, complete with a starting gate, starting lights and electronic timing.

That meant getting stuck into some 3D printing, electronics and Arduino programming. Neither of us had much experience with some of these things, so there has been plenty of learning as we go.

We've been designing and printing our own starting gate, building a light tree and working towards a system that can record race times and eventually keep track records.

It's been a learning curve, but that's all part of the fun!

Turning It Into Something Bigger

As the track started coming together, my Son began thinking about taking things one step further and sharing our races on YouTube.

With a few cameras, a garage that needs a little work and plenty of ideas, we're slowly putting together a filming setup that will hopefully do our little racing project justice.

We have plans for team names, driver names, team garages and proper racing events, with different cars competing to see who comes out on top.

 A Father and Son Project

At the heart of all this is simply spending time together. Whether we're testing cars, designing parts, sorting out wiring or making changes to the track, it's something we can both get involved in.

There have been a few frustrating moments, plenty of trial and error and the occasional bit of head-scratching, but seeing everything slowly come together makes it worthwhile.

We're still at the beginning of our journey, and there's a lot more to do before we're ready to race properly.

This is just the start of JJ’s Diecast Racing.

Follow along as we continue building, testing, improving and, eventually, racing our way towards our first championship!

JJ’s Diecast Racing 

A Father and Son Production