Great Club Track in sunny Florida

[torquemutant]

For some time I have been reading about a club track, “DeBary Glen Raceways”, here on HRW. In Central Florida, Bob DeWoody has a huge 67 foot Scalextric Sport track with four lanes and a timing program. I am a big fan of 1/32 cars so with the holidays in the past and time on my hands, it was time for a road trip.
Walking in the raceways, two club members were dueling on the newly acquired wood routed track officially named “Palm Bay”. They were racing Revell vintage stock cars at speeds that I had never expected to be possible. My vintage cars just tip toe around the curves but these top heavy hard bodies were jets compared to anything I’d ever seen. Upon close examination there was the usual Marty Stanley inspired chassis tweaks done to the under carriage but I was told the important improvement was the Paul Gage urethane tires sticking to that extremely clean and smooth surface of Palm Bay race track. No glue spray is used on the surface at all, just a fine urethane adhesion that will only get better and better with each pass of a car. The layout is quite interesting with fast wide curves, sprint like straights and a dog leg that can fool the driver (me) every time. With 3 ½ inch lane spacing the 1/32’s have lots of drifting space so you can really push your car to its limits. Marty even brought out one of his scratch built jail door 1/24 formula cars for a few laps just to give inspiration to possibilities of new classes to be run on his new track. My Slot.it cars were fitted with SCC’s yellow dog urethane tires and they gripped like they were glued to the unvarying track surface. That made me feel like a better driver than I really am (trust me, I need all the help I can get). Next time, you can bet that I’ll have Paul Gage tires mounted, trued and glued on my most serious racers because Palm Bay is 65 feet of four lane fast action racing.
DeBary Glen is the first modern day 1/32 plastic track that I have ever been on. I was expecting the usual clack clack clack sound as the cars pass every plastic section like my vintage Auto-Rama track or my HO track. Oh NO! This baby is smooth and super quiet. Bob designed this track on his computer so he was able to pack in a lot of action and not waste an inch of his foot print. I am overwhelmed that DeBary Glen is SO much fun to run on.. I want one just like this one. We were having a great time when Bob asked if he could look at the car I was running, a brand new Slot.it Jagermeister Porsche 962KH. He made a couple suggestions and asked if I minded if he do a little work on it. No problem, I just put another one of my cars on the track and carried on with the festivities. Every once in a while I would notice Bob weighing my car on his Magnet Marshal or cutting on the chassis (I had no idea what he was doing). Next thing I knew he handed back my car and said to try it out. Using only the stock magnet, he had my car glued to the corners and even top speed was increased… *MAGIC*. Maybe I’ll get closer to the track record (low 4’s) on my return visit... but first I’ll need lots more practice. :D
Marty and Bob are two of the most gracious hosts you could ever ask for. Their knowledge of slot cars is tremendous and the willingness to help you become a better racer is priceless. You only have to look at their tracks to know this is so. If you are planning a visit to Central Florida, I strongly urge you to visit DeBary Glen Raceways in DeBary, Florida. Race nights are on Friday’s but you can just give Bob a call and he will meet you there anytime And, if you are lucky enough to live in the area... then the beginnings of one of the greatest slot car clubs of all time is at your door.

[Czar]

I enjoyed reading your post, though it made me think "what if"? I went to Daytona Beach with the family over Christmas. Before the trip I talked to Bob and Marty about racing in the area. Bob generously invited me to join him at DeBary Raceway, and Marty gave me some info about the commercial track in Holly Hills. Anyway, time constraints meant I had to cancel my visit. I'm really sorry I couldn't make the connection.