This is my new track in progress, I was thinking about setting it up at the drivers stand so you can run 12 volts or 18 during practice without switching the power, most tracks I have been on the track is either running 12 or 18 during practice and if its 12 volts the guys running 18 would have to wait, this would do away with that. Also any ideas on cushion for the sides. Taking suggestions from here. thx

Here's an idea that just popped into my head for the walls...

The basic idea is to use lexan panels hanging from mounts such that there is maybe a quarter inch to a half inch of free play at the bottom of the panel so the panels move at little when struck by a wayward car. The mounting holes would be near the top edge of the panels and swing free to some extent at the bottom but still be close to the table surface. You don't want a car sliding under a panel.

The free play in the panels will dissipate most of the energy from a crash and save a lot of bodies. If the car strike causes the panel to move excessively or swing too much you could put a few soft foam blocks behind the panels to act as dampers.

One of the cool aspects of this design would be the ability to attach scenic elements to the lexan by applying stickers and/or painting the back side of the panels like you paint a lexan racing body. You could even have different themed panels for different races.

If you wanted to get ultra fancy you could have backlighting behind the panels and use translucent film and paint on the back side of the panels to create an ultra cool stained glass type of effect. You could even vary the colors to create different (and I'd suggest subtle) changes over time. I've often thought of figuring out how to have a wall backlighting system that would be hooked into the race management system. The backlight would be green when the race was normal, red for track calls, and some other color during say the last 30 seconds of a race to let you know it's time to bring your stuff. Having sensor behind a panel that makes the panel turn yellow when hit by a car might be an interesting feature to wake up the marshal, hopefully without distracting other drivers.

If money is no object you could even have a video screen behind a transparent section of a panel.

The basic theory is to use a loosely mounted wall to dissipate the energy of impact, have a way to add a custom scenic element that is safe from wall shots, preserve your cars and track walls from damage, and have something modular and easy to build and customize using common materials and tools. In my experience any kind of foam, rubber, or cloth covering gets shabby looking over time. Stickers peel or get marked up. Foam pads that bounce the car back on to the track tend to cause secondary crashes and draw other cars into a wreck. I have Plexiglas walls mounted loosely in slots along the edge of my track table and the free play in the panels makes a very big difference in minimizing damage and ricochets by wrecking cars.

One challenge is to come up with a panel hanging system (wood pegs?) that is secure yet unlikely to cause damage if struck. Having the pegs high and covered with rubber bumpers would help. I'm sure there are some more exotic ideas out there for the pegs (like RC car shocks) but in any case they should have little surface area to be unlikely targets. Another option would be to mount a stiff rod along the top edge of a panel and have the rod fit into slots on the sides of the walls. Probably okay for short walls, but longer ones would be a challenge. Maybe use hinges at the top? You don't want the crash walls flapping around, just walls that move enough to dissipate the energy. I suppose the movable walls could be affixed to soft foam blocks or springs to form the equivalent of an HO scale SAFER barrier. And the walls could be other materials too, not just Lexan. But Lexan is super strong for the weight of material and the ability to protect scenic elements behind the Lexan makes it very compelling.

Have fun and try to think outside the "slap some foam on the wall" thinking. That's an awesome setup and one worthy of a tricked out crash wall system.

Hi munsonater008, I see your track is called saratoga speedway. Any chance it is near Saratoga New York? Reason I'm asking is I live near by in Albany. Gary

no, it is located in plainwell , MI. it is about 30 miles south of grandrapids.
anyone have any easy ways to put carpet down after your track is mounted thanks