You don’t need anything to stop in and check things out. We have loaner cars and everything you need to cut some laps, hang out, and race or practice with us.
If you decide to step further into slot car racing, please check out our “Active Club Cars” pages and learn more about the platforms we support and their associated rules.
Our currently most popular cars are the AFX/Racemasters MegaG+ 1.7 (long-wheelbase) chassis and the Viper Scale Racing Viper V-SPEC V1 chassis. Of course, we run a few other platforms, but these two are the most active and versatile platforms in our racing program.
We recommend buying the F1/Indy style (open wheel) MegaG+ 1.7 platform. That will give you a chassis to race in our two most popular classes, the MegaG+ “Lite” and MegaG+ “Modified.”
The “Lite” class is nearly a box-stock car running a factory hard plastic or 3D-printed hardbody but can run any aftermarket silicon tires and any aftermarket rear axle assembly. Gearing must remain the factory 7T pinion and 23T crown gears. No other modifications are allowed. Traction magnets must be installed in the factory low-downforce position. See detailed “Lite” rules here.
The “Modified” class currently runs the same rules as the Lite class above, but with a photo-paper body, which Stewart Raceway will provide to you at no cost. With a factory or 3-printed hardbody and a photo-paper body, you’ll be set for those two popular racing classes. We suggest starting with these tires, any color, your choice. See detailed “Modified” rules here.
The Modified class is typically faster than the Lite class, but we’ve seen Lite cars win the Modified class with just the paper body and the tire upgrades. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to have a few spare parts on hand either.
Our next most popular platform is the ViperScaleRacing’s Viper V-SPEC Pro4 platform. We suggest starting with a ready-to-race setup like this from ViperscaleRacing.com, but choose the pinned rear axle option with body posts. You can also go with the rolling chassis to save money, and we’ll provide a painted Lexan body for you; the clear, unpainted bodies are only a few dollars, but the Viper V-SPEC Pro4 ready-to-race cars are nice looking and very durable.
As for Viper upgrades, all you need to get started are a few different sizes of softer tires. You don’t have to invest in racing tire upgrades right away; the stock tires are pretty good and work well. However, the more serious folks will run smaller and softer tires to get more downforce, which helps with lap times. Again, spare parts will eventually be needed for your Viper platform, we recommend ordering a couple sets of pickup springs and pickup shoes.
If you decide to invest in some tires, we suggest two sizes, .424 and .428, to get started. Every car is different and may require a smaller or larger tire to achieve the best lap times.
Investing in the above two platforms will allow you to participate in the two most popular racing classes at Stewart Raceway. Again, we run other classes from time to time, but these two are currently the most popular.
Stewart Raceway has plenty of loaner controllers available, so you don’t necessarily have to invest in a controller. That said, many of our house controllers have no adjustments, which means you’ll be unable to dial-in a car to your specific driving style. That’s where “Pro” controllers come into play. There are all kinds of controllers out there today. They range in price from $50 to well over $400.
One or two visits to Stewart Raceway are all you need to get up to speed with our program. If you enjoy it, any of our members will be pleased to help you get more involved and competitive at racing. All you have to do is show up, drive, ask questions, learn, and have that competitive spirit that all of us “racers” have.
If you’re not into competitive racing, you can attend track days or other fun events and enjoy cutting laps on two of the finest 1/64-scale slot car tracks out there.