This is a slot car scale version of Sears Point Raceway, renamed Sonoma Raceway in 2012, that measures in at a gigantic 20 feet long and 9 feet across.
The track is set up to allow up to three slot cars to race side by side around the circuit, which features banked cornering and elevation changes, as well as hand-painted track surfaces, structures, signs, and landscaping.
The track is set up to allow up to three slot cars to race side by side around the circuit, which features banked cornering and elevation changes, as well as hand-painted track surfaces, structures, signs, and landscaping.
History Speedrun: Slot Mods
Slot Mods is a Detroit-based company founded in 2007 by David Beattie. It specializes in the design and fabrication of handmade 1:32 scale slot car raceways. Operating out of Michigan, the company only produces a limited number of custom-built tracks annually, typically combining vintage motorsport themes with highly-detailed scenic layouts, all built around functional slot car racing tracks.
The business began as a personal project. Beattie is a lifelong motorsport enthusiast and he had built a slot car track in his basement to recapture the enjoyment he had racing slot cars during childhood. After friends and visitors expressed interest in buying similar builds, he transitioned from his job in advertising and established Slot Mods as a full-time venture.
In true American start-up style, early operations were based out of his own personal garage – over time the company grew into a dedicated workshop near Detroit, where a team of craftsmen now handle all phases of track production.
Each Slot Mods raceway is custom-designed based on customer specifications. The company works with private collectors, automotive manufacturers, and high-end corporate clients to develop both fictional layouts and replicas of real-world racing circuits.
Completed builds often include grandstands, sponsor banners, pit crews, service buildings, and miniature spectators, all hand-painted and arranged with careful attention to period (and regional) detail.
Completed builds often include grandstands, sponsor banners, pit crews, service buildings, and miniature spectators, all hand-painted and arranged with careful attention to period (and regional) detail.
The tracks are constructed from CNC-cut and hand-routed wood. Most layouts support both analog and digital slot car systems, including Scalextric and Carrera. Integrated features like timing systems, pit lanes, and illuminated elements are tailored to each installation.
Projects have been commissioned by Ford, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Formula One, Toyota, Hot Wheels, and RM Sotheby’s, among others. Some tracks have been used as centerpieces at major automotive events, promotional exhibitions, and private showrooms. Perhaps most notably, a build was featured on Jay Leno’s Garage, and another was installed in Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel’s private collection.
Despite growing international interest, Slot Mods remains a relatively small-scale operation. The company builds only a handful of tracks each year, they prioritize careful craftsmanship and high quality materials throughout.
Staff come from varied backgrounds, including industrial design, model making, woodworking, and automotive customization. All work is performed in-house, including painting, wiring, carpentry, and final installation.
Every build includes driver stations and control interfaces, and many clients use the tracks regularly as part of private events or collector gatherings – much to the delight of event attendees.
The company makes it a point to emphasize that its tracks are functional and meant to be used, not just displayed. Every build includes driver stations and control interfaces, and many clients use the tracks regularly as part of private events or collector gatherings – much to the delight of event attendees.
The Slot Mods Sears Point Raceway
This is a scale version of Sears Point Raceway, a circuit that was built in the late 1960s in Sonoma, California. The track has hosted many top flight racing events in the decades that followed, including NASCAR Cup Series races, Trans-Am Series races, Can Am Series races, American Le Mans Series events, IndyCar Series races, World Touring Car Championship races, and many more.
This Slot Mods version of the track is based on the vintage version of Sears Point Raceway, long before it was renamed Sonoma Raceway in 2012. In true Slot Mods style, this track is remarkably detailed, with a beautifully hand-textured track that looks like weathered asphalt.
Surrounding the track you’ll find racetrack structures and signs, as well as landscaping with grass, tress, shrubs, and soil. The track also has banked cornering, significant elevation changes, aluminum Armco railings, and multiple grandstands full of spectators.
It’s a fully-functional track with three slot cars able to race side by side, it has three controllers and the track is controlled through a PC-based tablet which is linked to a power source that plugs into a US-style wall outlet.
This is a fully-functional track with three slot cars able to race side by side, it has three controllers and the track is controlled through a PC-based tablet which is linked to a power source that plugs into a US-style wall outlet.
The track is being offered with a variety of slot cars, 22 in total, ranging from Porsche race cars and prototypes to vintage Fords. Slot Mods recommend a space of at least 23 feet by 12 feet in order to set up the track and to have enough room to move around it.
The track is now being offered for sale out of Sonoma, California with no reserve. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
