Temporary Parking Lot Tracks
 

We are in the process of searching out a good parking lot location for our on road club and thought it would be a good idea to start a thread that pertains to temporary parking lot tracks.
Best location, ins and outs in securing the location, promotion, surface, barriers, crowd control...etc etc.

Mark
GO-RC
Georgia Onroad Racing Club

I was in exactly the same situation some time ago. As we didnt had any previous experience with temporary parking lot tracks, everything was new and unknown.
The best solution for us was:
- to use pvc pipes and sand bags on top of them.
- corners can be made of corrugated (not sure if this is the right word to describe condition of material) pipes or any other material which is enough strong and flexible at the same time.

http://www.autopilots.lv/?id=263&pic=19
http://www.autopilots.lv/?id=263&pic=24

Our track used pvc pipe as well, but I've seen others 2x4's on edge painted white.

ROAR has some excellent guidlines for barriers for car control. Try looking them up.
I raced on temp race sites for 27 years around here and was directly/indirectly involved in securing several of them. The work that you will put out is going to be a ton. We raced at a J.C.Penny's parking lot as well as several Boeing properties that were sub-leased from others.
You will get the privilege of dealing with Property Managers and Corporate attorneys.
I will check back when I have more time and offer some help in those areas. Don't be scared off by the dealings. It can be rewarding.

The absolute toughest thing is finding a suitable lot, even if half the world is paved!

ain't that the truth....lol

Things can be accomplished and the club can and eventually will find the right spot. We at one point were using double stacked 2x3's with holes drilled in the ends and nuts and bolts to secure them as well as fire hoses. We used to have to pack up every day after the race, which was so so hard to do especially with little help. It is a thankless job and is done for the love of the sport and the truly faithful.

No matter what do not get discouraged as stated above and above all things remember that nothing worthwhile is going to come to you easy. Seek out a state park if you can as we in turn did. Or as said you will learn the art of dealing and will arrange something with property managers/owners etc.

I commend you and your faithful help and wish you all the best of luck and if there is anything that I can assist you with please do not hesitate to PM me and I will give you my number to help in any way I can.

We are using something very similiar as you kcrunchone. We took 2x4's and cut lap joints from the ends (one end gets cut from the top, the other end gets cut from below) drill holes in the ends, hammer a t-nut into the lower lap joint and you're done. It has worked out great for our temp. parking lot track.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...cture20047.jpg

I like this way of connecting the boards....in fact, instead of cutting a lap joint, 2-2x4's stacked and the ends stagered to create a lap and rounded off would probably be closer to the ROAR standards. This way would also give it more weight against 1/8th scale cars.:nod: This may be what Krunchone described!

Yes Bob

exactly since we were hosting ROAR races the interior guarding boards had to be regulation size. In order to stop a 1/10 or a 1/8 ...

We did that for so long in our old location but we are now have a permanent location and for the most part most of us love it.

If you're setting up a track for 1/8th scale I HIGHLY recommend doing exactly what Bob said. Use two 2x4's stacked with ends rounded (all you really have to do is cut off the corners...like the pic.) We don't have a lot of nitro cars racing with us lately, but when we had, the really serious wrecks would sometimes cause the board to split where the bolt goes through the lap joints.

We thought about the stacking of 2x4's for our track. The biggest reason we decided against it because it does double the weight being hauled around and we were not sure if our trailer was going to be able to handle it, the drivers stands, the outer boards, timing tower, pop-up tents, several tables, etc....