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I have the space in my basement to build a 5' X 20' oval. My question is: will the straights be too long. I don't want the racing to be just a drag race with a couple of turns. What are the dimensions of your oval tracks?

Best regards,
Kemtronracer

I thought you just built a tri-oval? What do the racers you are racing with have to say? Did you already do the timing system you asked about?

For me 18 ft would be the max. I have had a longer oval and it is not that much fun, drag racing like you say.

Mine is 16 and would not change it.

If you have a 5X20 foot space the straights won't be 20 feet. They would be about 15 feet, but the track would look strange. In any case you can have it both ways. Making straight sections is the easy part. One of our tracks is modular. The short configuration is a real bullring, the long configuration has straights that are four feet longer. The long track is still not a paperclip but it is quite different from the short version. You could make the table 20 feet long but have a short track off center with pit space on the end. If you centered the short track it would be more work to convert to a long configuration.

Ok, sorry about that.

My track is 5 foot by 16 total. A lot of folks have raced on it here and it is about as good as it gets in the fun departments.

Thanks guys, that's useful information.

Bibbster, I see your oval is three lanes. Do you enjoy racing on three lanes as much as four, or is there no difference?

I've had a 4X16 3 lane oval and it was fun.The inside lane might have been a tad tight,but fun.With an extra foot in width you would just about have an ideal track in my thinking.The 5 foot width makes the inside curve just about right.I've raced on Harry's and it is one of the funnest tracks I've been on.Now Bibbster has his 6 by 16 and it too is tons of fun..I like the 16 foot length,but then again I haven't raced on a 5x20 either..If, when I build another,I plan on it being 5 feet wide

Rusty

For what it's worth,I made a 16x4 three lane oval.It's fun, but I think the inside lane is too tight, and it does have the feel of two short drag strips connected by 180 degree bends.
The next but one project will be to make a new one,slightly shorter and a bit wider.
I don't think I'd want to go longer than 16 feet unless I could find the room to go a lot wider; and probably wider than 5 feet.

David.

Wanna go really fast?....go with 8x20,bank turns 6deg and streights 3 deg and your cars will fly!!

JIMMYX3 :D

1:1 track dimensions for a lot of county/state fair oval tracks are done in "quarters". The front and back straights are each 25% of the overall length, and corners 1&2 = 25% and corners 3&4 the final 25%.

I'm not big on straights. They are just places to give your thumb a rest. I'd go 16 ft.

My oval is 16 foot by 6, inspired by Darlington in that it's slightly egg shaped.

Whole lotta fun.

Chris.

Hi
P.A.S.C.R.A. Peoria Model Raceway we have a 4x16 Scalextric Oval on a custom built table , our member's love it . I also had to leave room my Garage is only 12 ft wide , so with pit space and Refridgerater it give's us room . Bean

4x16 sounds just perfect to me!

Thanks for everyone's input. I started the build - pics are posted in The Lumber Yard - New Oval Track in Mooresville NC