Pacific Coast Hobbies located in Oxnard, California, is the latest new track I have raced on, with my first race there at the June 2007 SoCal USRA Race.
The Raceway is a fantastic Raceway, well laid out, and of course "The Wall of Parts" is probably the best inventory found anywhere in Slotcar Racing.
The track is a Kingleman, but it is the largest Kingleman I have ever raced on, and is very similar to the Buena Park Hillclimb, but without the kink before the donut, and the overlapping main straightaway. The PCH Kingleman is very smooth and fast, probably faster than it looks.
Racing on the PCH Kingleman
Track length:
Approx 150 feet, a large Kingleman.
Direction of travel:
Standing at the drivers panel the cars come out of the banking which is to to your right, and pass before you traveling to the deadman which is to your left.
Power:
When we visited this first time the track was run completely on 3 power supplies. We did experience some problems with one of them, and I think next time we visit there will be a battery to filter the AC ripples that we experienced.
A lap of the track:
Starting out in front of the drivers stand you arrive at the deadman at maximum speed after the long main straight and bank. The deadman is a 180 degree corner, and is almost flat, so you need to be careful under braking, and then on the exit. Too much power too soon and the tail of your car will slide out on exit, either causing you to de-slot, or at least, lose plenty of time.
Out of the deadman you are heading towards the finger. The lap counter is on this straight not far form the finger, but it doe snot affect your entry to the finger. The finger turn is another 180 degree corner, but is a little banked, but not as much as you think, so you need to be careful, especially on the lower (red, white, green etc) lanes, otherwise you will pop out and go up the track, waiting to be hit by the cars on the upper lanes.
After the finger it’s a long long haul down the middle straight towards the donut. It takes a while to be able to remember that there is no kink in this track before the donut, and with the entry to the donut being quite fast you can dive in pretty deep. The entry to the donut is completely blind as it is hidden by the bridge, and if you do not carry enough speed into the donut your whole lap will be slow, so it’s quite a balancing act to get it right every time.
The donut is quite tight, and is uphill. As usual it is almost impossible to see your car in the donut when you are on purple or black lanes, so you do need to be careful. I found the best way to get around the donut was to constant speed the first part, slowly accelerating through the middle, and was actually able to get to the bottom of the controller before having to brake for the leadon. The donut is quite tight on the lower lanes, but it is fast.
The transition between the left hand donut and the right hand leadon is nice and smooth, and really you do not need to worry about it. The leadon looks very tight, but providing you do not carry too much speed into it you can get around it very fast. With the long long main straight and long banked turn getting through the leadon fast is important.
Out onto the main straight and there is nothing to do apart from slam the controller to the bottom and hang on. The main straight is long, so good horsepower is a necessity, and the bank is quite steep, but the transition into it is not great, so the car will accelerate all the way around it if you are able to gear it right. The exit of the bank is downhill, and you are now back at the drivers stand, so that’s a lap of the PCH Kingleman.
Final Thoughts:
This is a fun track. Scott has done a great job with it and it is very smooth and very fast. In June 2007 Gary Gerding re-braided it, doing his usual great job, so the braid is in excellent condition. Figuring out tires for the track did take a bit of time as soft tires were a bit too sticky, but then treated tires were a little hard, and surprisingly this really did not change even once the rubber was put down on the track.