42 replies to this topic

[rvec]

I award the ScaleRacing Center five stars. The facility is a family-oriented, neat, and clean environment featuring several wood tracks and even a few plastic tracks. Only high quality, durable equipment is sold and serviced. The emphasis is on 1/24 brands including Scaleauto and BRM, however, 1/32 cars and parts are sold as well. The owner, Alan Smith, is knowledgeable, helpful and passionate about the hobby. Alans business model is a bit different from that of a typical facility. In addition to retail sales, birthday parties and corporate events, Alan is the distributor for Scaleauto, BRM and other brands. This alone puts him in a position to capitalize on organic growth of the hobby.

As I approached the ScaleRacing Center (SRC) for the first time, I was struck by its unusual architecture, patriotic red, white, and blue paint scheme and modern but simple graphics. SRC is housed in an 11,000 square foot, stand-alone building in what I would describe as a commercial/industrial area yet only a stones throw from the very busy Tacoma Mall. Racing Center parking is adequate. Fortunately, parking is allowed on the street for any overflow. Below are a few images.
 

As I entered the building, I was in for some more pleasant surprises. The facility was clean and well organized. More than a dozen well stocked display cases featured replicas of racing machines new and old in 1/24 and 1/32 scale. Wow, what a selection. I drooled at all manner of Porsche 917s and 962s and Ferrari 512s in every livery imaginable. Also included in the displays were several home racing sets, scenery, scale buildings and much more. Below are a few examples.
 

After perusing the extensive selection of cars, I turned my attention to the tracks. There are two large eight lane wood tracks fitted with magnetic braid. These are not the typical bill of fare found in many traditional slot car establishments. I was later to learn that the tracks were Concept Tracks (a member of the Scaleauto family). The tracks are modular in nature and can be ordered in at least four, six or eight lane versions. Track sections can then be organized to the customers liking and layouts can be changed by substitution or addition of modular sections. Both tracks are what I would refer to as flat tracks (no serious banked turns such as in the King Tracks). Lane spacing is about four and a quarter inches with ample gutters to accommodate unimpeded cornering from the outer lane. Each track has a rather long main straight and a series of interesting corners some are decreasing radius in nature. DC power supplies rather than deep cycle batteries are used to power each and every track. Scale Racing Center is a glue-free zone. The tracks are well rubbered in providing excellent traction for the cars using ProComp foam tires.
 
I purchased an hour of track time and a rental car. The rental was a well prepared Scaleauto Dodge Viper. I was impressed by the handling and acceleration of this well balanced machine. I am now seriously considering a stock Scaleauto class for my track in Oregon (Electron Raceway).

In addition to the eight-lane tracks, the facility included a smaller four-lane Concept Track and a couple of plastic tracks. Below are some images of the tracks.
 

Even though there was a private party scheduled for the upcoming evening, Alan Smith, the owner, was kind enough to sit and talk for nearly an hour. From the very outset it was clear that Alan has a real passion for the hobby. In addition, he clearly understands the economics of the business. His philosophy for model car racing can be summed up as follows.

• Keep it fun
• Keep it simple
• Keep it real

The Scale Racing Center is a very well organized, clean, comfortable venue for playing, racing and sales. Alan provides a warm, encouraging and family oriented environment adding to the fun factor. In order to keep it simple, Alan sells only durable quality product (a bit more expensive initially but less so in the long run). SRC racing classes specify little or no modification to the cars in stock form. In the case of Scaleauto, only OEM parts are allowed, and nearly everything required is in the box. Only a swap to Scaleauto ProComp rear tires is needed.
 
This racing philosophy emphasizes driving ability rather than who can spend the most money on aftermarket parts to whip up on the competition. This also minimizes the cost of fielding and racing a competitive car. Keeping it real has two meanings. First, only model cars that closely resemble their one to one counterparts are raced (no Lexan flying doorstops). Secondly, tight specifications lead to close and competitive racing that is more fun for everyone. This is a sharp contrast from the hypercompetitive, dollar-driven environment fostered at many slot car establishments.

Having worked in the industry for many years, Alan understands the tough issues facing the hobby. As we talked he made the following points, some obvious, some not so.

• It is difficult to run a stand-alone slot car facility on track time, rental income, and retail sales alone. Alan supplements this income with a robust birthday party and corporate event program. He is also an exclusive distributor of several brands (more on this later) and uses part of the facility as a warehouse.
• Model car racing is an infinitesimal part of the US toy market. As such, there is great potential in America but many challenges as well. The question is how to reach these potential customers? Here are some of Alan's thoughts.
• Young people love model car racing. The problem is that few have been exposed to the hobby. Alan makes it simple and inexpensive to sample model car racing on great-looking tracks with smooth running cars.
• The industry is not financially strong enough to sign up high-priced celebrity endorsements or mount a major television advertising campaign.
• Marketing through giants like Toys"R"Us, Hobby Lobby, or Walmart is not the answer. These companies are looking for fast-moving commodity type products that require no sales expertise or support after the sale.
• A grassroots approach is necessary for growth of the hobby. Brick and mortar facilities are needed to show, educate, and demonstrate product to the consumer (a necessity for a higher end more complicated toy). As a consequence, reasonable profit margins are needed to support these facilities. Otherwise the hobby will languish as a niche market in the US. Obviously Alan practices what he preaches.
• Cut-rate Internet or eBay sales will drive brick and mortar facilities out of business. Therefore, the integrity of a realistic price structure throughout the distribution chain must be maintained. As the exclusive distributor for several brands of model racing cars/parts, etc., Alan evaluates his potential retailers carefully and selects only those who he believes have a vested interest in the long term viability of the hobby. Most of these have a brick and mortar presence. This strategy may not make each and every retail consumer happy. Heck, everyone wants a quality product at a deep discount. Alan's point is simple: without a reasonable profit margin commercial facilities cannot be economically viable and without them the hobby will not flourish.

[Cheater]

Terrific report, Rich!

[Cheater]

The next to last point about needing a visible grassroots approach to growing the hobby is right on.

Interesting, as that's the point I don't much agree with. In looking at other successful and stable leisure-time activities, I haven't found a single one yet that has achieved that position via a grassroots approach. Can anyone suggest a hobby or leisure-time activity that has successfully utilized a grassroots approach?

Not much question that SRC's overhead is going to be covered to a very large extent by Alan's distribution activity, not by whatever organized racing and casual 'playing' the tracks will see.

[team burrito]

Yeah, but does he provide for commercial 1/24 slot cars like JK products or Parma?

[S.O. Watt]

No.

[Cheater]

Strictly 1/32 Europlastic cars is the niche Alan occupies.

[Tex]

1/24 also... Scaleauto, BRM, etc.

[Cheater]

Thanks, Tex. Just an old guy's brain fart.

[rvec]

A well done facility. Perhaps, the future of commercial slot car racing.

What is the square footage of the space? What is the footprint of the various tracks?

The next to last point about needing a visible grassroots approach to growing the hobby is right on.

The last point about having a consistent price structure is essential for raceway owners.

Facility is 11,000 sq. ft. Only a relatively small space for warehousing, and small space for party room and work area. Sorry, I did not ask Alan about the track footprints. My guess is that track lane length is about 130 feet for either big track

[rvec]

Yeah, but does he provide for commercial 1/24 slot cars like JK products or Parma?

No! I did not see any of that. No Lexan cars, flexi, wing or otherwise. My belief is that he will stick to the brands he distributes including Scaleauto and BRM as well as some 1/32 brands

[rvec]

Phil,

All good points. I took a look at Alan's Scaleauto rules. They are very restrictive. Basically the only change one can make is to go to the ProComp sponge tires. All replacement parts can be Scaleauto only (no upgrade parts are allowed). One of two Scaleauto motors is allowed. Gear ratio must be stock 12/44.

Here is an interesting rule. "Motors can be specd by Event organizers, Scaleauto motors only are allowed. At National Finals hand out motors may be used. Another way to spec the cars is to Dyno cars prior to the race; this is decided by Event organizers and should be announced before the Event.
The goal is to create equal performing cars, motor and gear ratio wise to prevent costs rising due to motor wars. For some of his events Alan Dynos the motors. He told me at one big race, a team's motor was just to fast. He told the team the motor was not legal. The team was upset but in the end swapped out the motor. No telling if the team was cheating (and I am not saying they were) but this ensures a more level playing field and discourages cheating."

Alan is trying to standardize the rules and adheres to them for all events he has either at his track or others that he has races. We at Electron Raceway are looking at Scaleauto for an entry level class and we will use Alan's rules. This way any of us are prepared to run at Alan's events.

The appeal of this type of racing is to the modeler (white kits can be purchased painted and decorated) or collector (many liveries are available). The more level playing field and stock approach appeals to those who do not want to spend their lives building chassis. The motor rule again discourages cheating. Alan's style of racing will not appeal to the all out speed freaks or those who want to want to squeeze out every ounce of performance by spending a lot of cash and time on upgrade parts. I think this approach appeals to more folks. It may not appeal to the hard core racer but in the scheme of things hard core folks are the exception rather than the rule. I think Alan is not concerned with the hard core and wants to expand the horizon of model car racing to a more casual crowd that wants to concentrate more on having fun and driving skill.

[Cheater]

Both these examples started with the players that gave the initial momentum to their sport. Then, they set up organizing bodies. Initially these organizing bodies had minor sway, but as time passed they grew to have more power and influence.

Phil, this quote from your excellent and well-reasoned post essentially makes my point.

I left one word out of my statement: "In looking at other successful and stable leisure-time activities, I haven't found a single one yet that has achieved that position solely via a grassroots approach."
 
Grassroots activity is often the starting point, but sooner or later some manner of organization needs to be created to provide leadership, focus, and direction, and to advocate for the leisure-time activity itself as opposed, say promoting the sale of product or other profit-based goals. This statement is not based on prediction, but rather on observation.
 
SRC is a terrific and well-designed facility meant, in my view, to demonstrate and promote its chosen niche(s) in the slot car hobby, but its ultimate purpose is pretty obviously to increase the sales of the products it distributes. It dosn't seem to have a goal to advocate for the adoption of its racing program elsewhere, nor to encourage the creation of other similar facilities duplicating its approach. Again, this is just observation and is not to be taken as criticism in any way.
 
Most will recall the 1987 comedy "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." It is instructive to research the history of the organizations that exist/existed to advocate for modeling activities, both static and dynamic, in those three transportation genres. In model railroading and model aeronautics, there is in each case a stable, respected, and largely successful organization advocating for their very diverse activities (and the manufacturers who supply those hobbies have benefited thereby over many decades).
 
The younger (by roughly 50 years) model car racing hobby, which is an equally diverse and perhaps more compelling and attractive hobby, has, as far as I know, never embraced or attempted a similar approach. What it has embraced is fragmentation at almost every possible level along with an almost universal delusion that smaller and smaller 'special interest groups' can grow to be successful on their own.
 
The late Larry Shepard also said that the "competition" aspect of model car racing was its fatal gene and it was hard to argue with him based on facts and especially on history.
 
I wish Alan Smith and his partners all the financial success in the world and hope SRC will bring greater visibility to what I interpret as a more European style of model car racing. I just don't believe it will have much of an impact on the model car racing 'industry' as it exists in the US in 2016, although I would be thrilled to be wrong in that belief.

[MattD]

SRC is a great looking facility and with its financial security based in large part on being a slot car distributor. It really has very little to do with the type of slot car racing and modeling that is the common interest of this forum. The commercial slot car center frequented by most of us has very little in common with SRC. As a business model it doesn't really have much to do with our niche of this hobby.

It is a great place for 1/32 plastic home set cars and fans of that genre. Hopefully it can bring more interest to that side of the hobby and increase awareness of slot car racing in general. for the most part any publicity is good publicity.

The real sad part is that a business can't exist and be successful that appeals to all sizes and types of slot cars. Commercial/scratchbuilt 1/24 cars on wood, 1/32 plastic cars on plastic, HO on plastic, and a 1/4 mile dragstrip. Along with inventory for everyone. Maybe an attempt at that type of center would attract enough to people to really be a great building block for an expanded hobby.

[Cheater]

The real sad part is that a business can't exist and be successful that appeals to all sizes and types of slot cars.

I've been beating that horse for years, and am largely regarded as a nutcase because of it.

To me, the bottom line is unless the various scales and genres come together to present the model car racing hobby in all its diversity as a single hobby, it's fragmented into pieces too small to have a chance of achieving any significant level of stabilty or growth. The numbers just cannot work if any other approach is taken, as ought to be obvious to any unbiased observer.

In case no one has noticed, one of the planks in Slotblog's 'platform' is to value and respect every aspect of slot cars and slot car racing equally.

[rvec]

SRC is a great looking facility and with its financial security based in large part on being a slot car distributor. It really has very little to do with the type of slot car racing and modeling that is the common interest of this forum. The commercial slot car center frequented by most of us has very little in common with SRC. As a business model it doesn't really have much to do with our niche of this hobby.

It is a great place for 1/32 plastic home set cars and fans of that genre. Hopefully it can bring more interest to that side of the hobby and increase awareness of slot car racing in general. for the most part any publicity is good publicity.

The real sad part is that a business can't exist and be successful that appeals to all sizes and types of slot cars. Commercial/scratchbuilt 1/24 cars on wood, 1/32 plastic cars on plastic, HO on plastic, and a 1/4 mile dragstrip. Along with inventory for everyone. Maybe an attempt at that type of center would attract enough to people to really be a great building block for an expanded hobby.

SRC does not cater to the typical commercial/scratchbuilt crowd. Although he sells 1/32 plastic cars, his focus is on 1/24 Scaleauto and BRM. The tracks are wood not plastic but they again are not the typical bill of fare found at the typical commercial track. SRC's three wood tracks are modular with 4.25 inch lane spacing. They are flat tracks but do have what I consider fairly large diameter turns. The two large modular tracks were designed for 1/24 racing. I think 1/32 cars would look like dwarfs and would really be better suited to a tighter course.

We in Oregon have been running H-bracket metal chassis cars like the Scaleauto (along with Scholer, Plafit and slotting plus) for years. Our brand calls for more powerful motors like Hawk 7 and Pro Slot 16D. We add custom brass side and front pans to improve handling. These cars handle very well in modified form and in fact are nearly as fast as our scratch built cars. The stock Scaleauto is not slow but not nearly as quick as our modified H-bracket cars but they are quick enough. Since they do not have the added low weight they are more challenging to drive but fun none the less

Understand that internet and eBay sales have cut margins and make it very difficult for a typical commercial track to be financially sound. As I explained, since Alan distributes product, he has some control over his customer and provides more margin for the commercial venture to exist. I am sure that is why they are a glue-free zone and one that caters to plastic model body Scaleauto and BRM in 1/24. Will his strategy work? Does it work for a commercial facility buying only Scaleauto and BRM from him? Only time will tell. That being said, the old business model sure doesn't seem to be thriving in today's environment. Alan is trying something else. I wish him the best and hope that he is able to grow his in store sales with an increasing number of customers and grow his distribution sales to commercial facilities focusing on ready to run 1/24 cars.

Finally, there are so many scales and types of slot car racing to choose from. I have done it all from HO to Group 27 and everything in between. It is all good. Enjoy whatever form of the hobby you like but be open to new forms of the hobby.

[DE38]

Finally, there are so many scales and types of slot car racing to choose from. I have done it all from HO to Group 27 and everything in between. It is all good. Enjoy whatever form of the hobby you like but be open to new forms of the hobby.

 
Thanks, Rich, I didn't feel like doing a lot of typing. :] Agree 100%.

[MattD]

I don't think any of us object to any form of slot racing. We support it all and hope it all succeeds. I only wanted to say that the typical racer on this forum is not really interested in this type of slot racing center. Nothing at all wrong with it, it just caters to a different crowd. That said, if I had no way to race my 1/24 cars (all hardbodies on simple one-piece or H&R type chassis) me and the guys I race with would probably do 1/32 with brass chassis and hardbodies. I'm not against any of it and will race whatever I can so long as I have built it. Not saying there aren't all types of racers here, just a minority race what is shown in the opening post.

[Dennis David]

The BRM and Scaleauto brands are ones that Alan strongly believes in and they are hugely popular in Europe. The rules are similar to what they race in Europe in their lower classes. The tracks also represent what is considered cutting edge, once again in Europe.

He supports this type of racing not because this is what he distributes but rather distributes these cars because this is what he feels Is the future of slot cars. While he may face a stiff headwind in the US I see more and more hardbody racing out there.

[Dennis David]

BRM chassis are part metal while Scaleauto are all metal in their 1/24 scale versions. The idea of restricting motors is the same as Formula Renault, you wouldn't expect them to use BMW engines.

[rvec]

That said, if I had no way to race my 1/24 cars (all hard bodies on simple one piece or H&R type chassis) me and the guys Irace with would probably do 1/32 with brass chassis and hard bodies. I'm not against any of it and will race whatever I can so long as I have built it. Not saying there aren't all types of racers here, just a minority race what is shown in the opening post.

Matt,

Here at Electron Raceway and at our sister track STR we race only 1/24 hardbody cars. STR focuses on scratch brass and wire, inline chassis with small wheels (.790" rear and .750" front O-ring) powered by S16 or Pro Slot 16D motors. They also race the old ProTrack brass chassis or H&R with Falcon 4 which would be what you race (I am not familiar with the H&R motor but it is no more powerful than the Falcon 4 I would think). We also race modified H-bracket chassis cars (Scaleauto, Scholer, Plafit, and Slotting Plus). These chassis are equipped with custom .062" brass pans. The chassis in final from is heavy because Electron Raceway and STR are what I would call driver's courses with very tight (12 inch radius at Electron and 8 inch radius) turns and short straights. Both tracks are wood (for longer commercial tracks, I think I would use .032" pans and tune with lead). These classes utilize either Falcon 7 or ProSlot 16D motors.

Our experience tells us that the H-bracket cars handle much better than the H&R. Here is a LINK to a Scaleauto conversion. Here is a LINK to our GT1 class showing a modified Scholer chassis and many different bodies.

Here is the bottom line. On my track H&R 6.0 second laps, Scaleuto in stock form 5.7 second laps. GT1 4.9 second laps. Note that I think the stock Scaleauto motor is not as powerful as the Falcon 4 used in our H&R class. There is no way I would use an H&R with custom pans to compete against any H-bracket chassis with custom pans. The H-bracket cars handle much better. In fact we tried this experiment several years ago and decided to develop our hardbody classes using H-bracket chassis rather than H&R. In fact, the modified H-bracket cars are within a whisker of the lap times achieved by the scratchbuilt inline brass and wire cars.

Again, nothing wrong with the H&R but it simply does not compare to performance of the modified H-bracket cars using the same motors.

[hundo]

Looks like you've had to repeat yourself a few times as some folks didn't read your whole report about what he specializes in. Scratchbuilders is a small niche. I take my hat off to the guys who spend endless hours building these cars. I spend hours tweaking my plastic 1/32 cars, so I can't imagine starting from scratch. I'm more about racing then being the engineer designing the car. To each his own.

To grow the bobby, the big players, Scalexctric, Slot.it, NSR should invest or co-invest and put tracks in certain areas. Do a few prototypes in select areas, invest to grow the Hobby.

I think for a track to succeed or make any money they need to diversify, have something that pays the bills because rental time and even race nights won't be enough. Tracks that make it are ones that are being operated as a personal hobby, passion, and maybe even a write-off?

[hundo]

Rich,
 
Good article! Man I'd love to run a 1/24 hardbody. As you know Sidewinders is 1/32 only and the 1/24 track across town runs winged cars having no front tires. Maybe some day I'll be up North and will have to check your track out and Alan's.

[rvec]

Looks like you've had to repeat yourself a few times as some folks didn't read your whole report about what he specializes in. Scratchbuilders is a small niche. I take my hat off to the guys who spend endless hours building these cars. I spend hours tweaking my plastic 1/32 cars, so I can't imagine starting from scratch. I'm more about racing then being the engineer designing the car. To each his own.

To grow the bobby, the big players, Scalexctric, Slot.it, NSR should invest or co-invest and put tracks in certain areas. Do a few prototypes in select areas, invest to grow the Hobby.

I think for a track to succeed or make any money they need to diversify, have something that pays the bills because rental time and even race nights won't be enough. Tracks that make it are ones that are being operated as a personal hobby, passion, and maybe even a write-off?

 

Good article! Man I'd love to run a 1/24 hardbody. As you know Sidewinders is 1/32 only and the 1/24 track across town runs winged cars having no front tires. Maybe some day I'll be up North and will have to check your track out and Alan's.

Hey Don,

Hope to make it down to Sidewinder soon and see and race with all the great guys. I totally agree with the premise that a raceway needs several income streams to survive. Alan's SRC puts on several corporate events and parties. In addition being the distributor for several brands enhances his income stream.

Sidewinder is a fun venue. I have also been to the other track in town and it is just not my cup of tea. Too bad they don't use the flat track to run some 1/24 hardbody cars.