55 replies to this topic

[Rob968323]

This is kind of a weird question but does anybody know what the world's biggest commercial track is? Any pictures, location, etc? Just curious...I thought this would be a good topic.

[Rick]

Since none is replying to this. I will throw a bone it. Although it was before my involvement in slots, back in the day, at Tom Thumb South, in Pittsburgh, they had a 330 foot Engleman. I think that is the biggest track I had ever heard of . . .

[mcseitz]

This is likely not the largest track still in existence but it is probably the largest oval anywhere. Located in a small hamlet called Hildebran, NC. It measures 244 feet.

I have not been there in a while but I suspect its still around as it was run more like a club rather than a money-making venture. This photo was taken before the track was completely rebuilt a few years ago, but it still has the same footprint. They ran only hardbody cars with spec scratchbuilt chassis, much like a Champion jailhouse, keeping the format that was used by a similar track in that area back in the '60s.
If you go looking for it, note that there are two slot car tracks in Hildebran; this one in the basement of a closed hosiery mill behind the fire station.

[mcseitz]

Yep, you have a good memory. It's been a while since I posted that. Those cars are enormous but are powered swiftly by a simple Deathstar.

My folks live in that area. It just seems like I never have time to drop in on the place when I'm in town. I sure hope they are still at it. Some of the same guys there were racing when I was a kid.

I was really surprised on one visit a guy I hadn't seen in 35 years introduced himself and could tell me what car, color, and number I used to race, specific races we'd been in, and what happened to a lot of the guys we'd raced against.

[johnford]

8)
Thanks for the post of that picture of the giant oval track. I have seen lots of tracks in my years, but images of that one still stick out and stories of it always bring skeptical looks. Now I have proof to show. I can still remember when a car crash would send one of the cars over the wall to the floor . . . the whole place would go quiet as everyone would look to see who's plastic body had just been totalled . . . It was as strange as the picture looks...

[Tex]

Rob, there was one on, I think Long Island, that exceeded 400'. I've read both Sandy Gross and Howie Ursaner talk of running on it.

That long road track is documented in the "Howie's Rocket Ship" thread on THIS PAGE.

[mcseitz]

John, you've actually been there? Here is a shot from the back stretch. Remember, the track has since been professionally rebuilt and they added "soft walls" that help protect those hardbodies. But its still about the same size, much smoother, and just as incredible.

Now if you really want a story to tell, try convincing people that the grandfather of this track was a 190 foot Daytona tri-oval with 16 lanes in nearby Hickory, NC, during the '60s to mid '70s. Same original builder named Don Duckett. Half the lanes were squeezed together around half the distance of a lap so you'd be drafting your lanemate part of the time. The way we raced, with cautions bunching up the field, made for a real pack of cars no one ever quite comprehends or believes. But I was there!

[Rob968323]

Great stuff guys . . . anyone know of any biggies that are currently around?

[johnford]

I believe the largest track currently in operation commercially is the one in Atlanta, GA.
There have been many posts about this 1/32 scale operation but at the moment, I am about to head out the door to mail out the foreign subscriptions so don't have time to post a pic. Most likely someone else can get 'er done fer' me . . . Sorry, been in Arkansas too long now . . .

[Cheater]

John's referring to JD Model Raceway in the Discover Mills mall in Lawrenceville, GA, on the north side of Atlanta.

His six-lane Ninco track is 457 feet long! I am not certain his website has current pictures (he's expanded the track at least once and perhaps twice) but here's the website.

This track is about 10 mins from my house, actually. I've raced there once and did not find it to be to my liking. It really is too big.

[Rob968323]

I've seen that 1/32 track before. I was talking about wooden commercial tracks like the blue Kings, Hillclimbs, etc.

[johnford]

A scale mile was the largest mass-produced track available. There were three: the Engleman High Speed, the Engleman/Altech similar to Elmsford but with wider turns just like his Hi-Speed version, and of course, the American Soverign AKA Purple Mile. Nine were built that I can confirm pre-'70 and I built six after 1980 but with a modified left side utilising a lower 180 bank replacing the tricky 90 before and after the bridge.

I only know of one original Purple Mile still in storage in Odessa, Texas (no, it's not for sale) and I have no idea on where any of my six wound up. As for the Hi-Speed tracks, I know of two of them out there and the only Altech survivor known is still at Elmsford. Anybody know more? Let us all know . . .

[tonyp]

Hi John . . . I remember racing as a kid in Hillside, NJ, at Center Bowl and they had this big track with a bank on each end. They made you get a license by running first on one of the smaller tracks before they would let you run on their "Prize" track. That was the home track of Phil Rubin and the first place I met him.

I think Buzzarama also had the same track. Not sure what company made it.

There was also one at Linden Raceway.

[Tex]

I raced on an American Sovereign in Houston from about 1969-1970. The track was owned by a couple name Davidson . . . nice people. As a teenager, I did an all-nighter with them pulling the Purple Mile out of storage and setting it up. That was in their last location before closing up (in the Windsor Plaza shopping center, next to the "Pieces o' 8" pool hall). Good times. They had a juke box in the place and I remember playing Spirit's "Mechanical World" and Cream and Hendrix and The Doors with the lights out after closing . . . the Davidson's allowed me to drink a few bourbon and cokes with them . . . definitely a different world than today.

Yes, good times. Prior to that, the Davidson's had a location over in Bellaire (a township unto itself, completely surrounded by Houston) that was one of those real, honest-to-goodness slot car emporiums. At least four American tracks set up; I can remember the Purple, Red, and Yellow but can't remember if the other was the Orange or Black (?). There was a refreshment area segregated from the tracks by metal gate-like fencing . . . vending machines, tables, and chairs. The whole place was carpeted with some sort of commercial-grade carpeting. It was LARGE, baby!

[Prof. Fate]

Hi John,

Mille Miglia did sell 225' and 275' tracks made out of fiberglass. I don't know how many were made. I have run on ONE 275 in Ogden, UT, back in the '60s and '70s. Made a lot of money on that track.

I have seen two of the 225s.

Fate

[Cheater]

John,

How certain are you that AMR only built nine Purple Miles?

I know of two: the one at Harding Mall Grand Prix in Nashville in the '60s and, of course, the one at Tim Ferguson's Georgia Hobby Center. I have been told both tracks were discarded after getting wet in storage.

[TSR]

I know of two that went to Yurrup, one in Sweden, the other in Italy.

[Uncle Fred]

I remember one at Great Neck Raceway in the late '60s and one at a raceway in Englishtown, NJ, in the mid '80s.

[Rick]

There was Purple Mile at American Family Raceways in Natrona Heights, PA. And the Tom Thumb 330-footer was a commercially-produced track. They had the 220 in the North Hills and the 330 in South Hills.

[Ron Hershman]

A scale mile was the largest mass-produced track available. There were three: the Engleman High Speed, the Engleman/Altech similar to Elmsford but with wider turns just like his Hi-Speed version, and of course, the American Soverign AKA Purple Mile. Nine were built that I can confirm pre-'70 and I built six after 1980 but with a modified left side utilising a lower 180 bank replacing the tricky 90 before and after the bridge.

You forgot the 220', or was it 240'?, American Emperor tracks . . . rumored that only three were built. One at Buzzy's, one in Colorado, and the third one to Europe.

[Vegas racer]

Mr Raceways Indy 300.
There was one in Linden, NJ, in Springfield, NJ, and in Stroudsburg, PA. This was mid-1960s. The best layout I ever ran on.

[tonyp]

Larry, that's it . . .

[Vegas racer]

Tony:
Not sure if you ran any of the NASCAR races at Springfield. PvA and I had some great races at the bowling alley and at Linden.