Good Day Sacramento Is Returning to MoTown Raceway

Good Day Sacramento enjoyed their last broadcast from MoTown Raceway and decided they wanted to return to do a live broadcast with one of their reporters.

February 4th from 8:00 am to 9:00 am.

To make this as excellent of a broadcast as before, we need people in attendance to pack out the place. We know that our normal business hours are not this early in the day.

During the live broadcast we will have a race. We have several kids signed up. If you are interested in racing that morning, call in and have Gene put you on the list.

We will also be drag racing, so if you are interested in getting your cars on TV, make sure you are there.

The broadcast will take place between 8-9am. We need everybody there before 8am so we will be there with the doors open at 7:30am.

Thank you so much for supporting MoTown Raceway and the sport of Slot Car Racing. We look forward to seeing you.

Slot Car – Drivers Perspective Through Google Glass

Jerad brought Google GLASS (Computerized Glasses that have a HD camera embedded in them) to Motown Raceway. Here is what slotcar racing looks like from the perspective of the driver. Jerad will admit that he is not the best driver out there but it is cool to see what it looks like. Perhaps we can get Gene out there with Google GLASS on to show us how it’s done.

Watch Motown Raceway Live on Good Day Sacramento

We had a full house this morning for the Good Day Sacramento Live Broadcast. It was a lot of fun and felt like a close family event. We appreciate all of you who came out and all of you who watched from home. Within an hour of the broadcast Good Day Sacramento emailed us and said they want to come back again. This is fantastic news for the track and ultimately for the sport of Slot Car Racing as well. The video player below will allow you to watch the live broadcast with Jerad Hill, one of our fellow patrons.

Here is the direct link to the video: http://gooddaysacramento.cbslocal.com/video/9693809-motown-slot-car-raceway/

Kids & Slot Car Racing

slot-car-racing-kids

When I was young there were a few things that I was involved in that I can honestly say shaped who I am today. Racing provides a couple of lessons that you can’t get anywhere else in the real world for kids. Today, I am a business owner and have had no problem communicating with people of any age or walk of life. I feel that a lot of that comes from the various forms of racing I have been involved in.

Slot Car Racing got me involved in a sport that is enjoyed by people of all ages. At the Slot Car Track, you will end up racing against other kids and adults. It’s not about how big you are, it’s about lap times and sportsmanship. As a kid, this was great. What kid doesn’t like beating adults at their own game?

After I got home from school, I would grab my Slot Car Box and ride my bike down to the Slot Car Track. This was before Motown Raceway. I would clean the tracks and vacuum the floors in exchange for track time and race entrees. I mowed lawns and had other chores that allowed me to buy parts for my cars when needed. Slot Car Racing is a rather inexpensive form of racing. By the time 5pm rolled around, other kids and adults were at the track practicing and racing as well.

Many hours of practicing prepared me for the races. Each week, there was a race where Slot Car Racers would come together and race each other. You had to prepare your car and your pit area for the race. You didn’t want anything to go wrong with your car during a race and if it did, you wanted your pit area to be setup so you could repair the problem fast and get back in the race.

The thoughts below are my own opinion and most likely but not necessarily the opinions of Motown Raceway.

Sportsmanship

Slot Car Racing taught me how to win and lose. There were races where somebody else would cause me to crash and my car would break. It’s frustrating but it happens. It’s racing. You have to understand that anything can happen, and it often did. You also had to learn to be a good winner. Nobody likes someone who rubs winning in everybody’s faces and nothing is more humbling than sitting a little to high on your horse and having something go wrong at the next race.

Preparation

Preparing for the race was just as important. When racing Slot Cars, you race for up to 10 minutes per lane and there are 8 lanes. When your car comes off the lane in a race, there is a chance another car will hit you. It’s very fast paced. This means that you have to have your car in tip top shape. Just as a NASCAR racing team would prepare the car for a long race, you have to prepare your car as well so it will perform at it’s best.

Dealing With People

Slot Car Racing brings in all sorts of different people, so you learn to get along with everybody. You also make some great friends in the process as well. Learning to keep competition friendly is important. As a technology business owner, having good people skills is a must. It helps me relate to people and talk to them in a way they can connect and relate to.

Investing in a Hobby

Most kids these days don’t have hobbies, unless you count playing many hours of video games a hobby. With Slot Car Racing, you may still be in doors with a controller in your hands, but there is a lot more to racing with people face to face. Having something tangible that you can work on, customize and compete with is important in this day of online and digital that we live in. There have been years when there was not a local Slot Car Track because of the local track going out of business, however when a new track opens, the old slot cars still work. My 3 year old drives some of the slot cars I used to race with when I was a pre-teen.

Learning About Yourself

Slot Car Racing is something you do with other people but ultimately you are competing against yourself. You prepare your car and mind for racing. You have to focus when you are driving a slot car so you don’t lose control in a corner causing your car to come off of your lane. You are racing with others, but you are also racing yourself and stretching your ability to focus.

Becoming More Sociable

Most of our interactions these days are digital and it seems that our youth prefer it that way. Though there is nothing wrong with communicating through electronics, learning to communicate with people in person is a huge advantage. I want my kids to be able to hold a conversation with an adult and know how to share their opinions. When I was 13 years old, I was working on slot cars for adults who didn’t know how to set up their cars for a race. I traded my time working on their cars for parts for my own slot cars.

My Grandparents always had me around their friends and encouraged me to have conversations with people of all ages. It helps shape you as a person and the people skills you gain are very useful later in life when you are on your own in the real world.

Because Racing Is Fun!

Most importantly, racing is fun! My boys were born ready to race. I didn’t have to tell them about competition, kids are born competitive. If you subdue that and keep them back from learning how to compete, they will be at a disadvantage to other kids in the future who did learn how to compete. Racing is fun, especially when you can race a car as a kid. It may sound a little nerdy when you explain it to people, but when I would bring friends from school to the Slot Car Track, they left loving it as well.

There are not many things left that kids can do year round and in a safe environment. When I was racing Slot Cars, my Mother knew where I was and that I was safe. It was inexpensive to spend time at the Slot Car Track and it obviously had a positive impact on my life. Now it is time to pass on the positive experiences of my life to the lives of my children. I was a Latchkey Kid during my pre-teen and early teenage years. Having something to do was priceless and kept me out of trouble during those years of my life.

If I can find an old slot car racing photo of myself, I will make sure to update this post with a photo. Who knows, maybe I even have one of Gene and I racing slot cars back in the day. The photo above this article is of two kids who race at Motown Raceway. Reminds me of myself as a kid.

Written by Jerad Hill: Jerad is a Website Designer and Professional Photographer who was raised in Modesto and is now raising his kids here as well.

Motown Raceway to be on Good Day Sacramento

Good Day SacramentoFriday January 3rd at 8am, Good Day Sacramento will be broadcasting live from Motown Raceway. We are extremely excited to share the track and Slot Car Racing with the Valley and need your help. As you know, we normally are not open at that hour, so we need people to join us tomorrow morning.

If you want to give Slot Car Racing a try, we have plenty of cars and controls for you to use. If you have slot cars of your own, bring them down. If you don’t have anything at all and want to try driving a slot car, come on down. We will get you hooked up and racing.

slot-car-racing-kids

Those of you with amazing custom Slot Cars and Trucks might have a chance to get your stuff on TV. Come early and set up a nice display.

We would like to have everybody there by 7:45. The broadcast will only last a few minutes and for the most part, everything will be in the background. We just want them to be able to get some shots of a lot of racing going on.

This exposure will help Motown Raceway and the sport of Slot Car Racing. Join us tomorrow morning. We will have free coffee and donuts for all who attend.

Thanks!

Gene & Jennifer

How Much Does Slot Car Racing Cost?

Slot Car Racing, like any other hobby, can range in cost. In my teen years, I am pretty sure any money I made working after school jobs went into racing. Hobbies can be expensive but Slot Car Racing is rather inexpensive. Compared to other extracurricular activities, an hour of Slot Car Racing is relatively cheap. If you have your own car and control, an hour of track time at Motown Raceway is $8.00 (prices may vary depending on the track). Walk in without anything and $12.00 will get you a rental car, control and an hour of track time. To properly maintain your car, you will have to occasionally replace your tires, braids and other parts as they wear out. Depending on your Slot Car, most of the parts are relatively cheap.

Competitive Slot Car Racing can cost a bit more. A race entry fee is typically around $7.50 which gets you a lot of track time for the money. A typical race will get you 30 minutes of open practice to share with the other racers and 8 heats that last about 3 to 5 minutes long.

Slot Car Drag Racing is no different. Depending on the drag car it can be relatively inexpensive but I have seem some pretty elaborate drag cars that I know have some decent money into them.

The best way to see if Slot Car Racing is for you is just to stop in and give it a try. Considering the rising costs of everything around us, Slot Car Racing is still an affordable hobby.

Stock Car Racing in Modesto

Stock Car Racing is alive and well in Modesto, Stock Car Slot Car racing that is. The weather has no effect on these Slot Cars because our track is indoors and racing is for all ages. Every Friday night is Stock Car night at Motown Raceway.

Racers start showing up around 5pm to prepare for a 30 minute practice session that starts at 6pm. At 6:30pm the cars enter tech where they are checked to make sure each car adheres to rules that are set specifically for each class. Racing starts at 7pm and often lasts until 10pm.

Each class races 8 heats which means you get to race on every lane. Our computerized track timing system counts laps and lap times. The racer with the most laps at the end of all 8 heats wins.

Stock Car Race Entries are $7.50 per class. That is a lot of track time for a small price.

The following racing classes are available:

  • B-Stock: Novice Class, great for beginners.
  • Super B: Intermediate to Advanced Racers.
  • A’s: Advanced Racers, the best of the best.

Not sure if Slot Car Stock Car Racing is for you? Come check out one of our Friday night races. You will see how fun and family oriented Slot Car racing is. Check out our calendar to see our other racing events.

Things to do with Kids in Modesto

Growing up I remember saying that there is nothing to do in Modesto. It was our main complaint. Now with kids it is important to find things for them to do in the community that we live in. Slot Car Racing is an excellent option for kids. You don’t have to own anything. You just have to enjoy racing.

There are many things in the community that kids can get involved in such as team sports but slot car racing can be done at any time regardless of weather.

Between age 3 and 5 is about the time kids have enough hand-eye coordination to give driving a slot car a try. We have rental slot cars and controllers available for a low price. See our pricing here. We even have Birthday Party packages that give kids a taste of slot car racing action with their friends. There is nothing wrong with a little friendly competition. Kids love it.

So the next time you are trying to find something to do with your kids, give Slot Car Racing a try. It’s easy and fun for the whole family!