Area 51 now has lights for night time racing. When you try to run slot cars with lights in total darkness you can't see enough of the track to drive very fast and there is also a problem when several cars are running close together. Some sort of subdued room or track lighting is needed. The lights at Area 51 are strips of red LEDs that illuminate the corners and braking zones. The lights have been installed so that they are not directly visible to the drivers, but are quite obvious when viewed by corner marshals. The lights are connected to a variable power supply so the level can be controlled.
I could not get a shot from the driver's point of view, my camera will not focus in the dark. This shot is as close as I could get.
We ran a mini enduro and found that this worked very well. There was one spot where a little more light was needed at the exit of a turn. If I recall correctly the times for the segments run in the dark were often as good or even better than those run with the room lights on.
