After building my road course and getting more into slot car racing, I got the bug to build an oval track to run scratch-built modifieds and both new and vintage NASCARs. However, I was limited to the space already taken up with my other track. After much thought I decided to rest the oval on top of the road course and hinge it to the wall so that it could be folded up out of the way.

The track is made from two 4x8 sheets of MDF end-to-end. I routed each end from one sheet using a tramel for the first lane and offset router jig for the remaining lanes. I used the same lane spacing as in the road course for HO as well as 1/32 and 1/24 cars. Since all laps will be counterclockwise, the gutter is wider (6") on the back straight to allow for sliding room. On the front straight coming out of the turn I made an extension to allow for sliding room. The gutter on the front straight is 3". The infield was cut out to reduce the track weight and to clear the timing monitor mounted on the wall.

I painted the track with three coats of gray semigloss latex floor enamel, sanding between each coat. I applied the paint with a foam roller and then brushed it out with a foam brush to remove the roller texture. I ended up with a slick surface which is great for silicone/silicone-coated tires as well as most stock rubber tires. I used 3/16" copper tape 1.5 mil thick rolled down with a wood wallpaper roller. Each section of track was mounted to a 2x4 frame that was hinged to the wall of my shop.

The track had to be offset from the wall to allow for the 2 1/2" tall track walls when folded up. The walls are made from 1/8" thick tile board. The infield is made from 1/8" sheets of green chalk board attached to supports with Velcro for easy removal. One section is removed when folded to clear the monitor and replaced when the track is down.

To simplify the wiring, I connected the power to the wiring panel on my road course. That way, both tracks are hot all the time and the same driver stations can be used for both tracks. Nothing has to be rewired or connected to switch between tracks. Right now I only have one power tap to this track and it seems to work just fine.

To keep things simple, I also wanted to use the same light bridge for the timing system on both tracks. Before lowering the oval, I remove the light bridge from the road course, run it through the infield, and attach it to the oval over the photo transistors. Since I am using Lap Timer 2000 with the photo transistors connected to the joystick port on the computer, I connected each set of photo transistors to a joystick switching box. I just flip the switch to change tracks.

Now that I have built the oval, I am glad I did. It is a blast to drive, especially with open-wheeled cars. Best of all, I can switch between the road course and the oval in less than a minute. The best of both worlds in my limited space!