9 replies to this topic

[HHaase]

Well, somebody like me must be pretty rare around here, I think there's only a half dozen posts that even mention South Dakota on the forum.   None of them mention any tracks in the state at all.   

 

Anyway,  I used to race a lot in my teens out in New York at Port Jeff Raceway in the early 90's,  pretty much flexi's the whole time.  I never graduated into wing cars at all.  But life intervened, and I drifted away from the hobby.  I got to thinking about it for some reason a few weeks ago and started looking into if there were any tracks left anywhere.  There may not be any near me, but it's enjoyable to see the hobby is still going.

 

Closest tracks I can find are in the Minneapolis area, and that's 3.5-4 hours away which is a bit prohibitive to do anything regularly, but I do get out that way from time to time.  I'm a bit surprised to not find anything in Omaha, but that's how things are I guess. 

 

Anyway, nice to see all you guys here.   Maybe it's time to start bringing home some HO stuff and start working out some memories.

 

-Hans

[Bill from NH]

Welcome to Slotblog Hans. I'm in New Hampshire, but the last of our commercial raceways in this area closed in 2010, so there isn't much going on here either. You'll find a wealth of information on here so when you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. The Home Racing World bulletin board might be useful for you too. Have fun if you're able to get back into slot car racing of some scale.

[Jim Difalco]

it's your lucky day. Looked back into my emails and found one from a Agar Regor from Black Hills Slot cars,2200 N. Maple Ave, Unit 256, Rapid City,  South Dakota, 57701. The email was from 2/12/24 so he should be in business. see pictures below.

 

Tell him I sent you.

 

 

[Thom]

Hi Hans,

 I live in Omaha, a couple of years ago we had 3 road course tracks, 2 ovals, and a drag strip, all basement tracks. But due to a couple of deaths and serious illnesses most everyone has moved on. I have the last track that I know of in town and am trying to drum up some interest in getting a regular race series going.

Call if you are interested or are in the area and maybe can get together.

Thom. 402-679-2754

 

PS.  I also have a three lane, 46’ track For Sale.

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[Bill Seitz]

Welcome!

 

Having been in slot cars since the demise in the late 60's, I'm always wary of raceway info that I can't back up to a website, or in this time, a Facebook page. The only 2 Google hits I get are both business directory listings, and neither have a phone number. Jim's information is recent enough that I'd expect this raceway in Rapid City to still be open, but it would be wise to check before traveling across state to visit. No phone number makes that difficult, but perhaps Jim has an email address he can share with you. From the business directory listings, the address is in Uptown Rapid Mall. There's no phone number for this business in the mall's directory. This operation seems to be staying secret - no Facebook page that I found, though sometimes the local racers have the page under some other name and not the raceway. Raceways come and go quickly and on short or no notice, and hours vary widely from regular business hours to a couple hours a week for races, so checking that the place still exists and will be open at the time you plan to visit is always advisable.

 

After a bit more searching, I found HO Scale Electric Racing Series and Dakota Slot Cars on Facebook. The HO series had their April season finale at Black Hills Slotcars, but still no other contact information. Owners name was given as Roger Rega in one post and Roger Raga in another. The HO Series identifies their location as "Black Hills" while Dakota Slot Cars is "Southeast SD". A contact at one of these organizations may also be able to provide direct contact info for Black Hills Slotcars or the owner.

 

Another raceway not exactly close to you but still of possible interest is Duffy's Slotcar Raceway in Evans, CO (Evans is adjacent to Greeley, CO). Duffy's has a raceway listing here on Slotblog and a Facebook page. I was just there last weekend. They have a hillclimb track and are restoring an AMRC King track from the 60's. This King was the second one built by AMRC for one of the present co-owner's family nearly 60 years go.

[Jim Difalco]

agarregor@gmail.com

 

Above is the email I have for the owner. I sent him an email as well as I have not had contact with him since Feb.

[SpeedyNH]

as a consolation, there's a lot of very good local dirt track sprint car racing out there. when i was in grand forks a few years ago i could've traveled a little and gone to three tracks fri-sat-sun.  you could even do some trolling with a t-shirt that says Slot Car Racing on the back. 

[old & gray]

Two cents worth here; the Mall website Mall Map - Uptown Rapid Mall - RockStep Capital lists a "Black Hills Slotcars" but no phone number.

[HHaase]

Very cool to see there's so much potential trackage out in Rapid,  unfortunately it's about a 6 hour drive out that way and you need a strong liking for corn and wheat to find that drive interesting.   I just did a vacation up to Duluth over the past weekend, and did try to find some tracks along the way via some google searching. But I didn't get a chance to stop due to lack of time and not being sure if a couple of the ones listed here are still in operation or not.

 

Dakota Slot Cars does seem to be active though, and in my town too!  So maybe there's some hope for me yet that doesn't involve going bankrupt.

 

 

Thom,  out of curiosity, what kind and scale is that track?   Not that I'm in any position to buy one right now of any reasonable size, but I have been working some numbers to see what might be viable. 

[Thom]

Hans , PM sent