Slot car racing is an electronically motorized model car racing leisure activity that is made to race on tracks with a slot or slot for driving a car. Users can operate the race cars by means of manual controllers or throttles that regulate small electronic motors hidden inside the cars. More pressure on the accelerator generates a higher pace. Each car runs on a separate path, within its own slot. The challenge in slot car racing is cornering at the highest speed that does not cause a car to lose grip on a track and turn to the side or drift and fly off into the air.
Many slot racers prefer a race track unobstructed by the landscape, but some fans like rail transport modeling with highly structured tracks, carved to look like a real-life racetrack, complete models of buildings, trees and people. Slot car races have fewer followers than miniature railroads.
Most slot cars are actual car models, but some racers choose to have custom body styles. Most users use commercially available slot cars, others choose motorized static models, and some create their own mechanisms and bodies from critical parts and equipment.
There are three regular slot car scales: 1/24 scale, 1/32 scale and HO (Half ‘O’) scale (1/87 to 1/64). There are two big HO racing organizations in the US, namely HOPRA (HO Professional Racing Organization) and UFHORA (United Federation of HO Runners Association). Each hosts a national competition once a year, usually in July. There are many state associations that operate under these two organizations. HO racetracks can fit in common basements.
The Fray in Ferndale, California has the highest participation of all the slot car races in the world, where the best of them compete for top honors. The highly competitive race takes place annually, in February, and more than 100 people and 16 squads show up to compete at eight tables. Most state organizations run some of their series on local tracks, and these are frequently used for national competitions.
