I'm gonna build a dirt oval track here in Central Michigan. I have been racing carpet oval for years. Those tracks are usually limited by available space and the expense of the carpet. Space isn't much of an issue, and I work for a construction company that has every type of dirt moving equipment at my disposal.

I'm thinking maybe 100' straightaway's with an infield width of about 20' - 30'.

What would you do?

thanks,
Scott

Where at in central mich are you?

Mt. Pleasant

100ft is too long if the infield is only 20-30ft wide. Either shorten the straights or widen the infield. With a 100ft straight it will be a big motor HP war and cars will be so fast that any one mistake will lead to carnage. Keep your infield to straght ratio about 2:1. So for a 100ft straight the infield would be 50 ft wide. This will also make track maint. easier as the turns will be more sweeping and less digging in at the entrance of the turn as oppose to a tight radius turn coming off a fast straight.

Craig,
That is exactly what I wanted to know. I want long straights but I didn't think about corner radius until now. And that is obviously dictated by infield width.

thanks,
Scott

Well I'm gonna tell ya that long fast straights don't necessarily make for good racing. Especially as fast as the nitro cars can run now-a-days. Corner marshalling might require hocky goalie gear. ;)

That's a good point. I may have to downsize my plans a bit. Maybe I should shorten the straights to 75' or so.

scott

Scott,

Have you ever had a thought of racing a 1/4 scale R/C car on a dirt oval. I am from Muskegon, in Western Michigan and I race 1/4 scale R/C cars. right now I am racing on pavement in Lansing, but would love to find a dirt oval that could accommodate my car. If you would like to see a pic of my car, please email me at brats8595@comcast.net

Later

Kevin

PS: where abouts in Mt. Pleasant are you thinking of building. I went to school at CMU and am pretty familiar with the area.

Kevin,
I used to have a 1/4 scale buggy. I didn't race it though just to play around with. Not much interest around here in 1/4 scale cars. How big of a track does a 1/4 scale car need?

I have two possible locations, one at the back of my own property near Oil City. The other adjacent to the R/C airplane flying field at the Airport.


Scott

Scott,

The track we race on in Lansing has about a 400 foot racing line. We can make it around there in about 7.5 to 8 seconds. I race a 1/4 scale sprint car as well as a 1/4 scale grand national car. I was going to try to put some pics of the sprint car on here for people to see but can't figure out how.

Anyhow, I would love to race my sprint car on a dirt oval but there just isn't one anywhere here in Michigan.

Kevin

http://www.assro.com/lqss/

Check out this link concerning 1/4 scale dirt oval action.

If you want big straights, just make the corner big too... This will make for a high speed track, at the same time marshalls won' be in danger. We had a track in East Lyme, CT. Most fun racing I ever had, the straights were long but the corners were longer. Width Also helps keep racing clean.