Power Tool Drag Racing – Call for Entries & Rules

As we’ve hinted before, the first leg of the first annual Triple Crown of Tool Racing will take place at the Louisville Mini Maker Faire.

Everyone’s invited to build your own racer and come on down and race! In fact, why not download the poster and send it around as a challenge to your friends.

Here’s a good introductory primer from MAKE:

Now, the fine print and rules.

Vehicles

Eligible machines are single engine power tools with limited motor and gearing modifications. Power sources must be stock 110V provided for the tool. See rules at the end of this post for additional information.

The Track

The drag strip is 75′ of reasonably flat plywood track. There will be another 20′ or so to slow down with added semisoft material (typically hay bales) to help with the deceleration of the faster entries. Racers will run on parallel wood tracks 1′ wide with 2″ X 4″ rails on either side. We will make every effort to maintain the straightness and accuracy of this track, but expect some variation and bumps at the joints.

Prizes

Custom-built trophies and prize packs from Bosch will be awarded for Overall Speed Champion, Most Creative Design and Crowd Favorite. Additional prizes awarded (at discretion of race officials) may include slowest, ugliest and/or best wreck.

Race Day

The fourth annual Tool Races will be part of the inaugural Louisville Mini Maker Faire – an all day event to MAKE, create, learn, invent, CRAFT, recycle, think, play and be inspired by celebrating arts, crafts, engineering, food, music, science and technology.

When: Sept. 28th, 2013
Where: 800 block of East Market Street (at Campbell)
Race Times: Official races start at 2pm
Registration and entry fee at trackside

Rules

Machines are to be based on handheld power tools. A handheld power tool is a machine intended for handheld operation by one individual. A machine primarily used on a stationary mount, or rolled on wheels, or used by a group of people is not a hand tool for the purposes of this event. This event is limited to hand tools powered by standard 40 amp 120 AC electric power cords. Examples of hand tools are machines like belt sanders, angle grinders, circular saws, drills, chainsaws, weed wackers, vibrators, etc. Examples of things that are NOT hand tools are things like lawnmowers, floor sanders, generators, bench grinders, etc. No vehicles built from RC cars allowed, because they are boring.

AC electrical cords will be 100′ long per lane, originating at the starting line. They will have standard Edison 3-prong connectors. You will be responsible for “coiling” the cord on the ground or laying it alongside the track for your run. No spools or cord guides allowed, but duct tape will be provided so you can tape the connector together. Tangles or poor cord feed are your responsibility.

Eligible machines are single engine power tools with no motor modifications or non-standard power sources (i.e. engine and power source needs to be box stock). Propulsion can be direct drive to track via the original blades, belts, etc, or via a custom gear/chain/tire configurations. Frames, wheels, guide rails, etc can be added as desired. Any motor or power type is allowed. But all “motors” must have originated in a hand power tool and be in their original form, with original power source driving it.

Due to the nature of the event these machines can be very fast and very dangerous. ALL entries for any class MUST REGISTER their machine and be inspected prior to racing to make sure they will stay on the track and out of the audience. We also reserve the right to say “no, unsafe” at any time for whatever reason(s) we find relevant.