42 replies to this topic

[Tampabay racer]

The Biggest or most tracks? Two totally different things.

[Vay Jonynas]

Teaneck Speedway | Family Entertainment Center | Teaneck, NJ had an absentee owner who had absolutely -0- background in the hobby.... The owner told me he wouuld need approximately $100+ an hour rate for a Saturday event as that is what was his going rate for his parties.

 

See more here...............   teaneckspeedway.com

 

 

A mostly absentee, know nothing owner, an object lesson in how not to run a slot car raceway, or any business for that matter.

 

Now I understand. Rather than being first and foremost a slot car speedway with other entertainment options where there was space, Teaneck was intended to be an overall entertainment centre/party place that just happened to include a number of (absolutely gorgeous) slot car tracks. An absentee owner with no interest in either slot cars or whatever else was being offered ran it into the ground.

 

Very sad. It could have become a regional magnet for slot car racers and drawn more participants into slot car racing had it been run by anyone with some interest in the hobby who was willing to put some work and promotional effort into the facility. 

 

[Vay Jonynas]

Biggest or most tracks? 2 totally different things.

 

Adding up the total length of all the tracks:

 

What are the biggest slot car racing facilities in your region of the country/world in operation today? By biggest I mean a combination of most tracks plus most track footage. I guess six lane tracks should get only 75% of the credit of eight lane tracks while 1/32 scale plastic tracks should get only 75% as much credit as 1/24 scale tracks while HO tracks should get only 28% as much credit.

 

 

[Vay Jonynas]

Mid-America, in Buffalo Grove, IL, is also a very big place.  Roger must have four or five tracks in there, and 

a Puma HO track, 

 

I'll say! These are the tracks in Buffalo Grove:

 

Gerding Pilsen King

Gerding Tri-Oval

152' Teknos

Dadds Lazy Figure-8

1/4 Mile Dragstrip

Puma 8-Lane HO

 

Mid-America Raceway - Buffalo Grove

 

But Mid-America in Bloomington is right up there as well:

 

155' Dadds Hillclimb

Midwest Monster

Figure 8

Oval

 

Mid-America Raceway - Bloomington

 

[Ramcatlarry]

The Mid Am Gerding King was replaced with the Gerding/Janus refreshed PILSEN King.

[John Luongo]

nice to see all the oval tracks and drag strips in use.

[Kit Henry]

HMS Speedways in Bellevue Ohio has
American King
American Aristocrat
American Monarch
Large Tri oval
Small 6 lane oval
1/8 mile drag strip

Under rebuild
6 lane Monty Ohrn HO Oval
Slot Mods 1/32 scale track

Open Tues Thurs 5:30 till 9
Sunday 11 till 5

109 East Main St
Bellevue ohio 44811

Kit 419 217 0685

[Vay Jonynas]

Cool! That's right up there with the biggest already mentioned in this thread! And I like the old-fashioned atmosphere:

 

 

 

HMS Speedways and Hobbies

 

 

I see that Bellevue is directly south of Cedar Point and is only a half hour bike ride from Sandusky. Jenny's Amsdem House Restaurant looks to be a proper diner with a low counter and stools!

 

 

 

 

Does Bellevue still have a drug store soda fountain?

 

[Vay Jonynas]

A very strong contender on the West coast is Fast Track Hobbies:

 

165' Dadds Purple Angel

145' Hasse Reverse Kingleman

135' Bob Scott Yellow Dragon

Portable Oval for Special Events

1/24 scale 1/4 Mile Drag Strip
 

 

Fast Track Hobbies - Rocklin

 

[Mark Onofri]

Speedies Fast Lane, Solvay NY,
Blue king, large oval, small oval and
A NEW DRAG STRIP!!!!
I'll get back to you with the lengths unless someone else knows what they are.
In 2000-2005 there was Speedies and MCM.
MCM was less than 5 minutes away, even with a track call on the way there.

[Vay Jonynas]

Another strong contender is the Slot Car Raceway and Hobby Shop in Vero Beach, Florida:

 

155' King

145' Ogilvie Hillclimb

52' Ogilvie Phoenix Oval

Four Lane Grandstand Track

1/32 Scale Wood Track

74' HO Wizzard Nightmare

Scale 1000' Dragstrip

 

 

Slot Car Raceway and Hobby Shop - Vero Beach

 

[Gil Aubin]

Ahhhhh, okay. You're among the sophisticated racer contingent that look for events. But focusing on the sophisticated racer contingent (notice that I'm avoiding using the word "crowd") won't enable a slot car raceway to survive. What a slot car raceway needs to survive are customers who regularly come around to run their cars and more importantly new customers to whom home sets, track, cars and parts can be sold. And I'm guessing that without a storefront to lure customers inside, Teaneck wasn't getting the ever so important walk by new customers.

 

How noticeable was street signage for Teaneck? Did it scream "Come inside and check us out!"? And being downtown in the basement of an office tower, I'm guessing Teaneck must have been on transit/bus routes but it probably wasn't near schools which can be a much needed sourse of new customers. Moreover I'm wondering what the Teaneck Speedway was doing to advertise its presence in Teaneck and area?

 

 

My experience is that a raceway needs ALL types of customers to be successful.  People who just want to play with their stuff, people who want to race in a weekly program, regional series visitors, birthday parties, even some non-slot merchandise.  Model kits, Pinewood Derby, whatever it takes to get people in the door.  Obviously, advertising is a huge part of the equation that encompasses print, social media, in some instances radio and TV, also a simple thing like signage is key.  

[Vay Jonynas]

A solid contender in the Southeast is the Viper Pit in Thomasville, Georgia with these tracks:

 

165' Engleman

165' Road Course convertible to a 110' Daytona Tri-Oval

155' King

120' Ogilvie

 

 

Viper Pit Raceway - Thomasville

 

[Bill Seitz]

Fast Track Hobbies was mentioned a few posts back - one of my favorites because of the Dadds' Purple Angel. A big plus for Fast Track is this is a full range hobby store that's open 6 days a week (they were open 7, but now close Tuesdays). Some of the other places that have been mentioned have such restrictive open hours and days they're hard to visit from out of town. Fast Track has a total store space of around 9000 sq. ft., though only about half that is slot car raceway. They no longer have a drag strip, and the mobile oval isn't in the raceway space. However, they are still the largest raceway I know of west of the Mississippi.

 

So far as largest track by lap length west of the Mississippi, I think that honor still belongs to Jim Honeycutt and Magnetech Raceway in San Antonio with the Altech (Stan Engleman) 185'. Jim has kept this track from the 60's in excellent condition all these years, and it hasn't ceased to be one of the more challenging large, banked tracks around.

[Vay Jonynas]

Fast Track Hobbies was mentioned a few posts back - one of my favorites because of the Dadds' Purple Angel. 

 

Here's a semi-decent shot of all the tracks at Fast Track Hobbies:

 

 

[Michael Jr.]

We have a king, Engleman and an oval plus a drag so I suppose that puts us in the second tier of larger tracks at Upstate Speedway


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[MG Brown]

We have a king, Engleman and an oval plus a drag so I suppose that puts us in the second tier of larger tracks at Upstate Speedway


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A very excellent facility with good racing programs and well stocked with parts.

[Bill Seitz]

Considering the size and number of tracks Michael has at Upstate Speedway, he has managed to pack a lot into a modest-sized space. Very nice facility and tracks. I hope I get a chance to visit there again.