General Rules
Please show respect:
Drivers & spectators are expected to show respect for others and display sportsmanship throughout the contest.
Abusive language or profanity will not be tolerated.
Horseplay which poses risk to contestants/spectators or the race facility will not be tolerated
No drinks or food allowed near the tracks
During racing:
Drivers must turn marshal during their sit-outs or otherwise when called upon by the race director. Drivers who either DNF or DQ are expected to turn marshal the remainder of their race.
During track call only guide or body straightening permitted
Track calls are permitted only for:
Track braid up
Track equipment failure
Debris on track
Un-marshalable car, i.e., a car de-slots and stops in an area not readily accessible to a turn marshal, including the control panel area. Note: a car landing on the floor does not necessarily constitute a track call.
Rider in lane
Weekly Racing General Technical Specifications
All weekly flexi-class cars must meet the following conditions:
Must use a 4" commercially-available two- or three-piece stamped metal flexi frame. The open-wheel F1 class must use the a JK Products C30 (narrow) 4" flexi frame; the Indy class requires a JK Products C35 (wide) 4" flexi frame.
A car must pass generally-accepted rules for max width (83 mm or ~3.26"), min rear clearance (0.047") including the motor, and front pan and center section clearance (0.010"), as measured with the entire car resting on a slotted tech plate.
3/32" solid metal rear axle required. Flatted axles are permitted. Bushings, oilites, or ball bearings permitted at rear axle.
No frame cutting allowed except a very small amount at pillow blocks, in order to fit rear bearings, oilites, or bushings. May solder motor in place, motor brace permitted. Pin tubes permitted.
Commercially available light pans, produced by the same manufacturer, are permitted.
May use lead weight as needed, attached to the top of the chassis.
Unless otherwise posted, weekly classes require the Mid-America Stomp motor. Other classes require the Chicagoland Stage 2 CR102 or Mid-America Road Runner or Eagle Retro motor. All Motors are factory sealed and therefore unopened. No internal motor modifications are allowed. The motor shaft may be shortened. All motors must bear the manufacturer's permanent etching on the motor can for identification purposes.
The Stomp motor requires 15/34 64-pitch gears; the CR102 & Road Runner motors require 14/36 64-pitch gears; and the Retro Eagle requires 13/37 64-pitch gears in all classes.
Higher-performance motors such as the Mid-America Eagle, or even more powerful Enforcer, Phoenix (not Phoenix Supra), Intimidator or RTR Raptor Pro motors, are used depending on the class. These motors are generally reserved for our fastest classes, such as LMP or GTP (high downforce bodies). Specific motors and any spec gearing for these classes are announced in advance of a race or series.Front tires are optional except in open-wheel racing. If fronts are not used, a car must have front-wheel decals in place on the body. If front wheels are used, 3/8", 1/2", or 5/8" fronts are permitted, but not wing car thingies. Open-wheel racing must use JK F1 fronts, minimum diameter .750", with full solid axle. Open-wheel cars may use independently-turning front wheels, but the front axle must float and may not be fixed to the frame.
Currently approved and commercially-available 4" body appropriate to body style being used in a class/series. The minimum unpainted body thickness shall be .007". No aero-effect modifications or add-ons permitted, except as announced, in which case a 1/2" rear air dam is permitted. Depending on the series, for example, NASCAR, a minimum 1/8" front bumper rule may be enforced [minimum 1/16" grille on retro-style bodies, unless this element is not on the original car]. The rear of the body must not be higher than 1-5/8".
Saturday Racing Technical Specifications
The Viper Pit offers scheduled Saturday racing; otherwise, Saturdays are used for testing and tuning. Saturday race classes differ from our weekly racing, and depending on the class, we may use national or international rules of racing. For example, we sometimes offer retro racing using IRRA rules.
See our Saturday Racing page for scheduled weekend racing news!
Weekly Racing Format
We typically run a nine-week series using a specified class of slot car body. Furthermore, we race on a different track each week in a series, so that each track has been raced on three times at the end of a series. We use an Engleman -> Blue King - > Orange -> Engleman -> and so on track rotation for each series.
Slot car bodies are changed each series, based on body styles such as NASCAR, LMP, GTP, or even "retro" bodies. This practice keeps the racing very affordable, fun, and interesting by varying the body, not the underlying slot car. Drivers must master the nuances of each body style used, including inherent aerodynamic/handling differences, which can be significant.
Weekly racing allows ONE (1) car substitution in a race. The potential substitute car must be entered and teched alongside the primary race car. The backup car will be impounded until needed and is to be used solely by the driver who entered the car. The backup car may be employed only when the primary race car has failed to perform as expected by the driver, regardless of reason (e.g., race damage, broken motor). Once used, the driver must finish the race with the backup car - no further substitutions or switching. If a driver substitutes his/her starting entry, then there will be a 5 lap penalty assessed. Replacing only a torn body with like is not considered using a backup. While using a backup car is an unusual race rule, we feel it promotes our primary objective of having fun, particularly for racers who drive long distances to participate on a weekly basis. This rules does not apply to any weekend racing, including major regional or national events.
Assignment to race mains will be done by qualifying. Each driver will have 30 seconds in which to qualify. This should allow each driver roughly 5 or 6 laps in which to qualify. Qualifying will take place in rapid succession in order to minimize the total time taken. Drivers not qualifying will be relegated to the lowest main. This is in line with almost all other raceways and accepted norms.
The results of each main will stand on its own merits. Consequently, there will be a B main podium and an A main podium (and a C main podium if sufficient entries dictate). There will be no move-ups allowed. The current point system below will be revised in order to account for mains being separated in this way.
We sometimes run two-person team mini-enduros to ensure an adequate number of turn marshals during each heat. Each driver uses his/her own car in the race. Teams are decided by drawing lots. However, if race turnout is sufficient, we will run as individuals. We run 2.5-minute heats in individual racing. The racing point system, described below, applies to this individual racing.
We use a European-style lane rotation: Red->Green->Blue->Purple->Black->Yellow->Orange->White->
Effective August 14, 2023, the point system in weekly individual racing will be:
