In reply to Carl Heideman :
I built a 12 volt light bridge over my sensors that use tubular bulbs from Volvo 240 license lamps. Also a small computer fan to keep the bulbs from igniting the wooden bridge
Deliberately built the bridge too low to clear a Fly truck, 'cause trucks ain't for racing! Note that I tried both Infra red and regular LEDs without reliable triggering. Incandescents are a total success. The Fiats all belong to the fellow on the far left in the photo. We ran them IROC style, where the car stays in the lane and everyone drives every car.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
Thanks for more great tips. The IROC-style event sounds fun.
Minor update, plus an ask for advice.
Update: I got a little more of the green carpet installed and Dan built the Corvette, Speedville, and Sargento bridges.
Dan is a retired ad exec who works at the shop part time and it was his idea to use Road America for the layout. He's never built a model before, so his bridge building isn't TurnerX19's level, but it's perfect for our little setup. I especially like that he got the Eclectic logo on the Speedville bridge.
I also installed photosensors on all the lanes and have the lap timer working. It also counts laps now. I think adding segment times will be straightforward once I decide how to slice up the segments. It looks like the outside lane is about .1 faster than the inside lane, so we may need to do some handicapping for serious races.
Advice, please:
I have four Scalextric controllers, two from each set. They look similar, but perform a little differently. They all give the same high-speed voltage/current, but have different "resolutions" so two have a nicer modulation feel than the other two. Also, I've learned that they brake the car if you let off completely. I've thought it would be nice to put a brake button on instead of letting off. I've seen some controllers with brake buttons, but they're not too common.
So, should I get different controllers? Is a brake button dumb? Should I modify these controllers? I've seen some controllers are $150+ and don't really want to stick $600 into this.
Thanks for the advice!
I may be out of date, but isn't the Speedville bridge at the start of the carousel? Not sure what the current sponsor is on the bridge at the Kink-- was Hawk by my last recollection from a fair bit ago.
In reply to Karacticus :
Good catch. You're right.
Carl Heideman said:
In reply to Karacticus :
Good catch. You're right.
Well, the Corvette Bridge should also be at the entry to Turn 6 as well, but I'm not sure it fits there on your layout. 
Yea the bridges came after I cut the plywood so there is some embellishment.
I would have answered earlier but Wednesday Night Racers was here at my track this week. Small turnout, but margin of victory after 12 minutes was less than 50 feet. No need to handicap due to lane length, as everyone runs every lane during a race. We generally use 3 minutes per lane with 1'45" to switch lanes.
Controllers: The brake "button " is usually an adjustment potentiometer to reduce the brake on cars that lock up when full off. All controllers go to regenerative brake at the zero point. All of the tracks in the WNR use 3 stud/ alligator clip hook ups, arranged white black red left to right. Many new controllers are $300 now. Let the serious guys buy their own if they want to, but I still win with an old $25 Parma brand with a 25 ohm resistor and no adjustments. Get 4 of them for track loaners. If you run big motor magnet cars they are too high, but we took all the traction magnets out many years ago to reduce the crash amplitude. Parma company is on the skids these days, but there should be 25 ohm inventory somewhere. Scalextric controllers are trash, as are all other brand "set" units.
Don't invite me over, I'll be the annoying person yelling "CHEEEEEEEEESE TRUUUUUUUUUUUUCK" every time I go under the Sargento bridge 
Yeah, the bill for brats and beer at race meetings could end up being impressive...
Where's the Corvette Corral these days?
Something important and Scalextric specific I have forgotten to mention previously; Never use anything abrasive during track cleaning. Even in the best of conditions some dust and significant tire detritus accumulates on the contact rails. I use Worth universal solvent and a soft lint free paper wipe. Other track brands use 400 series stainless rail, and a light 1200 grit sanding is standard. That will remove Scalex's nickle plate on mild steel instantly. Lap times improve up to 7% after cleaning on a slow but running track. Dirty rails impact braking as much as power too.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
Thanks for the advice about controllers, track cleaning, and more!
I have a digital version of this with a pit lane that can race 3 cars at a time. If I add a power supply I could go 6 which would be insane.
Kiddo and I sometimes go to our local commercial track. Slot cars can hit a real 80 mph these days and 0-60 in less than a half second. It's nuts.
