I'm a newbie to this site, but not to large scale. I'm located in Richmond, Va. We have no tracks here that I'm aware of so I have started building my own track behind my warehouse. My question is what would be a good track size, I understand drive lines, but what about straightaways, track width, banking degrees etc. look forward to this forum. My buddy and I just ordered a pair of sprint cars.
thanks
Tom

I'm a newbie to this site, but not to large scale. I'm located in Richmond, Va. We have no tracks here that I'm aware of so I have started building my own track behind my warehouse. My question is what would be a good track size, I understand drive lines, but what about straightaways, track width, banking degrees etc. look forward to this forum. My buddy and I just ordered a pair of sprint cars.
thanks
Tom

Dirt or pavement?

red clay

I have raced Q-scale Sprints on a couple different Dirt Tracks. I would recommend at least 25 feet (Minimum) wide straights, banked about 7 to 9 degrees, turns about 10 to 12 degrees. Infield about 35 to 45 feet wide / across. :thumbsup:

Good Luck!

Tom,
If you are running dirt you want the track to have very little banking. The reason is for the weather. The rain is rough on the banked tracks. A lot of track prep is need each week you have a rain storm. I wouldn't run over 6 degrees in the turn and the straight around 2 degrees so that the water won't stand on them and make the track soft. The run line for a 1/4 scale it depend on what you want. A flat track you want long straights and a banked track you want shorter straights. It makes for better racing.:thumbsup: the tack width needs to be at least 25' maybe 30 with sprints on dirt. My wife and I had a dirt track we ran 1/10 and 1/8 scale on that is why I say very little banking. Our track was 10 degrees in the corner and 6 on the straights it was a nightmare after a rain storm and we had pure red clay down here and it still had washes in the track. red clay

Tom,
If you are running dirt you want the track to have very little banking. The reason is for the weather. The rain is rough on the banked tracks. A lot of track prep is need each week you have a rain storm. I wouldn't run over 6 degrees in the turn and the straight around 2 degrees so that the water won't stand on them and make the track soft. The run line for a 1/4 scale it depend on what you want. A flat track you want long straights and a banked track you want shorter straights. It makes for better racing.:thumbsup: the tack width needs to be at least 25' maybe 30 with sprints on dirt. My wife and I had a dirt track we ran 1/10 and 1/8 scale on that is why I say very little banking. Our track was 10 degrees in the corner and 6 on the straights it was a nightmare after a rain storm and we had pure red clay down here and it still had washes in the track.
I agree, heavy rain can wreak havoc on a dirt track. I think track prep is way more critical for 1/10th and 1/8th scale (smaller / low to the ground w/smaller tires) than it would be for a ¼ scale. You stated you “understood drive lines” so I didn’t suggest a drive line, but I personally would keep it around 325 feet.

One nice thing about banking the track is if it rains (and it will on race day) it will dry ten times faster b/c the water will run off, and you’ll get to race, versus sitting there looking at your two thousand dollar car with big ponds of water all over the flat track.

I think dirt oval is making a come back in some areas.

Thanks for all the advise, the track is ruffed in, the banked turns are in they are a sweeping typ turn. I stopped work because of the weather, but also I wanted to see what would happen to the track when rained, that way I would know exactly where I would place my drain pipes to shed the run-off. the clay that we have in my location is not of the sandy variety. When it gets wet it becomes slick or greasy as some call it. I intend to make it a little longer. thanks for the advice.
tom