... this is the one track that would that be their lead story,
My BFF Jay Guard, after working his butt off for Lockheed-Martin for 37 years in at least three countries (Germany, Korea, and the US), decided a few years ago, along with his lovely and supportive wife Marilynn, to build a self-designed dream retirement home in Deland, FL. As a totally-obsessed slot racer, he wanted to incorporate a home track, really more of a home raceway. It took him a couple of years to finish it, and he purchased two different tracks before he was satisified.
I helped Jay get this four-lane track from Long Island and also to move it four or five times though different states (my back still hurts... and I could relate incredible stories about our multiple journeys before it reached its final location in FL). But on a recent visit, I found he has finally completed it and it is simply stunning. As nice as any home or commerical 'raceway' I've ever seen in 50+ years in this hobby.
First the track, which Jay has labeled the "Orange Crush,' because its design resembles an American orange Monarch 'crushed in' from the sides. As best as he can tell, this is a unique track built by Hasse Nilsson, although is is not marked as such. Lap length is roughly 88 feet. He believes he is the third owner.
The pic below shows the 'sano' pull-out panel wth the relays and wiring for the SRT lap counter system I set up for him (he is a degreed Mechanical Engineer but at the time this was done he was not very computer-centric, although he's getting a little better in that regard...)
The 'raceway' is above the garage in his new home, thus the angled ceiling seen in the following pics. The space is rectangular, with pits and workspaces aligned along the long sides of the room. As one enters, along the lefthand side are two long 'counters' of pit spaces, divided by his chassis building area.
Here's the first four pit spaces along the left side. I think he said this counter is 12 feet long. Note the electrical plug-ins along the wall; Jay says no one will ever complain about the lack of outlets at his place, one every four inches for a total of 36 outlets!
Here's the four pit spaces on the far end of the lefthand side of the room, with the same numerous electrical plug-ins.
Centered on the lefthand wall is Jay's chassis building area, which contains everything he needs to bend and solder metal for chassis construction, as well as a monitor and cable connection so he can watch racing videos and streams while he works.
One the righthand side of the room, there are three more pit spaces on the far end, with, again, numerous electrical plug-ins as well as Jay's American Model Raceways mint-condition 'Model Car Tester,' acquired from Phil Hackett at Sonic. It might never have actually been used!
And in the center of that righthand wall is Jay's motor building station, backed by the banner of our Southeastern Retro Racing (SERRA) Retro racing group that operated from 2008 until 2011. The trophies on the shelf are mostly those he and Marilynn won when Jay was for two years the president of the Porsche Club of America chapter at the factory at Zuffenhausen, where the club was allowed to utilize the factory's Weissach test track for their events. He also became acquainted with most of the Porsche factory racing mechanics.
The near side of the righthand wall leads into what Jay terms his raceway's 'Skyboxes.' In the corner is a cooler for beer, sadly empty when I was there. (There was plenty of beer in the cooler in their kitchen, so I did not go thirsty during my visit.)
Turn the corner and you will encounter Jay's 'I love me' wall,' featuring the many plaques and awards he has won during his slot racing years. The central feature is an extremely rare Dale Jr. lighted rotating sign.
When you exit the raceway proper, there is the rest of Jay's 'Skybox' area. First a dining table and a Nautilus exercise bike with both sound and video.
And then an outside smoking porch, for those still addicted.
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There are some fabulous raceways in Europe, especially in Germany, but I have never seen anything like this elsewhere. Have you?
If you get an invitation to Jay's place, do whatever you can to accept it. I know he is planning a four-hour enduro later this year, to invite three man teams from each of the four FL raceways and he has asked me to come assist in running the event (he knows how bad a racer I am now...). Lord-willing, and if the creek don't rise, I'm going to be there!
