Is Slot Car racing really car racing?

The guys at Speed Sport Life (who try all types of motorsports) entered a slot car race and tried their hand at motorsports victory. The question is, is it really a motorsport? You decide.

http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/08/11/racer-boy-slot-car-racing-or-how-to-race-door-to-door-without-worrying-about-your-doors/

No, you can't get hurt so it is a hobby.

Ehh, id say its technically racing, like racing dogs or horses are racing, or like foot racing is racing...

And they do technically have motors, so if you wanted to get technically again and play semantics it could be called a motor sport. Though its not really physical at all other then squeezing a little controller so I would not call it a sport.

It probably also has some aspects of throttle control/throttle steer that real racing does as well.... but other then that it its probably not even as close to real racing as playing sims on your computer.

In reply to RedS13Coupe:

since theirs are electric wouldn't they be motors with out a doubt..? and ours be engines...? I know, I know this could start it's own thread...

and slot cars could be considered sport (maybe even racing... see above) but maybe not an athletic endeavor ... not much strength needed... nor a lot of hand-eye coordination either, little stamina ... but they sure are fun

wbjones wrote: nor a lot of hand-eye coordination either,

You must not race T-jets... those things are ALL about hand-eye coordination... and knowing just how much speed you can carry through a corner... drifting the back end around to knock another racer out of the slot...

Is it a sport? No. But is it racing? Absolutely.

yes it is racing. Everything is racing.

i may have a problem...

Is it racing?,...yes it is. There is a hobby shop by my place that races them every week. A lot of people show up to race them as well. But really I dont see why people are drawn to thto them. I love to care RC cars. But I dont think I'll ever race a slot car and actull "get in to it". there my .02

What about slot car drifting? Is that racing?

wbjones wrote: In reply to RedS13Coupe: since theirs are electric wouldn't they be motors with out a doubt..? and ours be engines...? I know, I know this could start it's own thread... and slot cars could be considered sport (maybe even racing... see above) but maybe not an athletic endeavor ... not much strength needed... nor a lot of hand-eye coordination either, little stamina ... but they sure are fun

engines are motors. Motors is the more general term for something that converts energy into motion, engine is the more specific term for a motor that converts thermal energy into motion.

Keith wrote: What about slot car drifting? Is that racing?

OMG SLOT CAR DRIFTING IZ NOT RACING! RACING IS WHERE YOU DO THINGS THE FASTEST WAY POSSIBLE. SLOT CAR DRIFTING IS LIKE FIGURE SKATING.

Rusnak_322 wrote: No, you can't get hurt so it is a hobby.

Then you never slot car raced with me...

When I was 12 (12 years ago) I used to race every Wednesday at a semi-local hobby shop. It was always the same group of us kids (I ran into one of them by chance 5 years later at another hobby shop). Actually, he is the one this is about. Without fail, in EVERY single race he was in, he would come off of the last turn, go to full throttle for the long straightaway, and forget to get off the throttle again. His little metal car became a little metal projectile as it flew from one side of the hobby shop to the other. Sometimes... people were in the way. Those things were fast. I still have mine.

And some girl named Candy would ALWAYS win. Every race. She was a bit older than me and had more money in her car. I will attribute her skill solely to those two facts.

Um, and yes. Slot Car racing is racing. Heck, it's one of the words in the name of it. If you argue otherwise, you're a godless heathen communist.

Is it racing, yes. Is it a sport, no. I raced slot cars for a few years, mainly 1/24 and 1/32 scale on the big commercial tracks. It was insane. I raced against some people that actually raced real race cars as well. I wish I could get back into it like I was years ago. We'd raced two or three nights a week at the local track, but it closed and now the closest track is like an hour away.I learned alot about building motors, car set up, tire selection, etc. Talk about hand eye coordination, try driving a Group 7 wing car that car cover a 155' road course type track in about 4 seconds.

every so often a track will open up around here.. and a year later.. close. Shame, it is fun

Sure its racing. And my wife is Heidi Klum. Sorry, but pretending doesn't make it so.

pinchvalve wrote: . And my wife is Heidi Klum.

So is your name Flavio or Seal?

I used to race slot cars.. in 1967.

Slot cars are certainly racing. I love HO Scale racing, especially the old T-Jets and A/FX cars. There are some amazing tracks and amazing cars. I would call it competition because that aspect is still prevalent (car selection, preparation, tuning, racing, points championships, close finishes, pushing the rules, etc). I would even call it racing. Motorsports? A motorsport hobby sure, but not real motorsports, and I love slot cars.

If anybody in the NW is up for a race, I have about a 1000' feet of track and ~300 cars from early 60's T-Jets to the latest Super G-Plus and X4 Tyco's, some of them highly modified.

confuZion3 wrote: When I was 12 (12 years ago) I used to race every Wednesday at a semi-local hobby shop. It was always the same group of us kids (I ran into one of them by chance 5 years later at another hobby shop). Actually, he is the one this is about. Without fail, in EVERY single race he was in, he would come off of the last turn, go to full throttle for the long straightaway, and forget to get off the throttle again. His little metal car became a little metal projectile as it flew from one side of the hobby shop to the other. Sometimes... people were in the way. Those things were fast. I still have mine. And some girl named Candy would ALWAYS win. Every race. She was a bit older than me and had more money in her car. I will attribute her skill solely to those two facts.

That wasn't K/T in Lynbrook was it? Their track seemed to be designed to launch fast cars at the people running them or on top of the soda machine.

YES! A lot of fun too as a teen.

confuZion3 wrote:

Rusnak_322 wrote: No, you can't get hurt so it is a hobby.

Then you never slot car raced with me...

Same here. We had a good commercial track in Atlanta when I lived there. My car once left the track, banked off a Coke machine, and hit a guy. Hey, if you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk.

Yes it is RACING... You are racing little cars you can't sit in so you must do it remotely. iRacing is racing electrons.

Personally any time you control the speed and direction of an object around a track it is racing.

Horse racing is racing.

Dog racing is not.

I guess that depends on if you look at it from the dog's perspective

David S. Wallens wrote:

confuZion3 wrote:

Rusnak_322 wrote: No, you can't get hurt so it is a hobby.

Then you never slot car raced with me...

Same here. We had a good commercial track in Atlanta when I lived there. My car once left the track, banked off a Coke machine, and hit a guy. Hey, if you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk.

If you consider yourself "Hurt" after being struck by a 4 oz toy car, then you should definitely get some adult supervision before you attempt to race a vehicle that you actually sit in or on.

Rusnak_322 wrote:

David S. Wallens wrote:

confuZion3 wrote:

Rusnak_322 wrote: No, you can't get hurt so it is a hobby.

Then you never slot car raced with me...

Same here. We had a good commercial track in Atlanta when I lived there. My car once left the track, banked off a Coke machine, and hit a guy. Hey, if you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk.

If you consider yourself "Hurt" after being struck by a 4 oz toy car, then you should definitely get some adult supervision before you attempt to race a vehicle that you actually sit in or on.

You've obviously never been hit by a 40+ MPH projectile with metal spiky bits poking out of it. I've seen gashes that required ER trips and multiple stitches. The lucky guy was the one that ducked when an Unlimited car (hand-wound motors, gold-plated electronics, tires like super-glue) came off of a 30' + straightaway and went through the wall into the back office of the hobby store.

Funny you should ask....

I've been so depressed with my job I've been thinking of opening a business called "Slot Cars, Wargames, Alcohol and Barbecue". That way I could spend 40 hours a week doing just about everything I like to do.

I figure four out of five ain't bad...

I would so go to that store!

...which wargames? looks at stacks of nerd hobby crap all over house