Power supplies:  At least to begin with, you may wish to limit the track power supply to one original equipment power pack per lane, powering each lane separately.  Powering each lane separately prevents the cars from fighting each other for available amperage and ensures that each car gets consistent power.  This makes the cars easier to drive in competition because they don’t get a sudden increase in power when a car stops or deslots.  All three of our recommended racing classes will perform well enough on a single stock power pack per lane.

Using stock power packs also provides a degree of uniformity from one track to the next if several different persons’ track layouts are included in your race schedule, particularly if the layouts all use the same track system.   It is true that there can be a noticeable difference in power output between one standard power pack and another.  However, over a race schedule in which each racer runs an equal amount of time on each lane of each track the difference is effectively canceled out, along with any differences in length or cornering speed between the lanes themselves.

A disadvantage to using stock power packs is that their power output is not adjustable. This means you can’t reduce the voltage when small children or total beginners are running.  However, there’s a simple way to overcome this shortcoming.  Plug all of your power packs into an outlet strip with a master on-off switch and an adjustment dial built into it.   You will then be able to turn down all four power packs as one, and the on-off switch lets you start and stop the power to all lanes together. 

Taken together, restrictions on controllers and power supplies remove most if not all advantages to be gained by using illegal, ultra-high performance motors and magnets which cause the car to draw more amperage than the power pack can provide and require controllers with different specifications. They also control costs by ruling out solid-state electronic controllers that can easily cost more than $100 each.  In the process many of the rules on car preparation and specifications become at least partially self-enforcing. 

As with the racing classes, at some point you may move on to different rules on tracks, power, and controllers.  Meanwhile, what we have described here will give you an excellent place to start with organized racing, providing lots of inexpensive and enjoyable racing along with the experience necessary to make effective choices for the future of your race program.