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Our 2026 Scalextric digital season continues on Wednesday with another Nascar club car team race and Trans-Am pairs race - a perfect introduction to our digital racing formats and RCS64 race management software.

We do ask that new racers complete at least one (and preferably two) Nascar & Trans-Am evening to progress to our GT Championship and the Saturday events. During the evening we gradually introduce the tyre wear, fuel consumption and weather features of the RCS64 software. Team captains will get you up to speed with the nuts and bolts of digital racing - and to the subtleties of race strategy.

Doors open at 6.30pm for practice and digital driving school. Teams are allocated and we start racing with evenly-matched club cars as near to 7pm as possible. An hour of action is divided into three or four segments of either 15 or 20 minutes, including driver changes every five minutes. Teams swap cars at each break - winners with last place, second with fifth etc. After an hour of racing, total laps are added up and prizes awarded at around 8.30.

Trans-Am cars are back for the pairs race for 2026-8. Scalextric and Pioneer models of cars that raced in the Trans-Am series between 1966 and 1972 are eligible. The usual Trans-Am format is two 8-minute qualifying heats, with a driver change at half-distance. The cars completing the most laps in their 8-minute heat automatically qualify for a the feature race, the other six battle it out for the remaining places in an 8-minute ‘B-Final’. And that usually takes us up to around 9.30pm - or sometimes a little later.

The whole evening costs just £3 for adults and £2 for under-16s. All equipment is provided for the team race. Those without a Trans-Am car will need to negotiate to share a ride. We do ask that racers aged 13 and under bring a responsible adult with them.

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Twenty-five of us raced in the second Nascar & Trans-Am event of 2026. Kinsley was racing at the Barn for the first time, although he's been getting in some practice on Dean and Jaxson's track. We were also joined by Gary, who wanted to see what WHO is all about... he had some laps in practice, but we couldn't persuade him to race this time. Instead, he decided to marshal and watch the Nascar Team Race, but ended up staying the whole evening.

Nascar Club Car Team Race

   

Our six Nascar teams were carefully constructed with a mix of new and experienced racers, plus each was captained by a younger racer - meaning Kinsley was leading Mike D, Stephen Mc and Duncan on his WHO debut. The team of five was captained by Jaxson, alongside the experience of Andy, John, Matthew and Rob A. Simon's MayBank layout made an excellent Wednesday night track - fast, not too tricky and requiring a little bit of patience to overtake. It also looked great, filling most of the Barn...

   

One hour of racing was split into three 20-minute segments, four team members taking 5-minute stints with live driver changes during a pit stop. The first and second segments featured just the fuel simulation, with tyres added in for the final 20 minutes. The first segment was incredibly close between the top five teams - only Oliver, Scott, Kevin & James struggling to keep up with the pace. Ollie, Rob B, Steve & Stephen A finished on 101 laps, a lap ahead of Kinsley's team in second and Jaxson's team in third. Two laps further back were Isaac, Dean, Kev & Mike A, then Ash, Mike Mc and the two Simons.

   

Cars were swapped for the next segment - first swapped with last, second with fifth and third with fourth. The six Pontiac Grand Prix are pretty evenly-matched,which helped make it such a close race...

   

This second 20 minutes saw two teams finish on 103 laps - Kinsley's team crossing the line just ahead of Isaac, Dean, Kev & Mike A. Third were Ollie, Rob B, Steve & Stephen A - putting them just one lap behind Kinsley's team, who led overall going into the final segment. The top three teams were separated by just two laps - Isaac's team sitting third, Jaxson's team were fourth, five laps off the lead. Two laps separated fifth and sixth - Oliver's team cutting their deficit to Ash, Mike Mc and the two Simons by four laps.

   

Another swap gave us the unlikely outcome of all six teams back with the cars they started the race. Adding the tyre simulation made pit stops much more complicated - a big challenge for our newer racers, but it also seemed to catch out some who've been doing this for many years! Scores dropped a little as the pit stops lengthened, but the race remained incredibly close and intense at the front...

   

Kinsley, Mike D, Stephen Mc & Duncan grabbed the win they needed for overall victory - finishing on the same lap, but just ahead of Isaac, Dean, Kev & Mike A. A lap behind were Ollie, Rob B, Steve & Stephen A - putting them equal on overall laps with Isaac's team. In the event of a tie, it's all about the finishing order in the final segment - so the top three on the road was also the overall podium. Fourth were Jaxson's team - three laps off the leaders in the segment and fourth overall, eights laps adrift of the winners. And in some late-race drama, Oliver's team pipped Ash, Mike Mc and the two Simons to fifth - equal on laps, but ahead on the road...

   

Huge congratulations to Kinsley on his debut win!

         

         

         

Those Pontiacs certainly delivered an incredible close and exciting race!

Next was a full twelve-car Trans-Am pairs race...

   

[Kevan]

With so many drivers how does everyone get sufficient practice time?

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@Kevan - we have between 30 & 45 minutes practice with six cars on track. It's not much and some people are too late (or too busy) to get any laps. The priority is always getting the new drivers on track with some expert tuition. For more experienced racers, we take it as read that the first race - or first stint - is our chance to familarise ourselves with the track. We've worked on our formats - particularly for the Saturdays - so we have the faster classes at the end of the afternoon when we're closest to mastering the layout and an easy pairs or team race to start the day.

Trans-Am Pairs Race

It was jam-packed grid for our Trans-Am pairs race. Twelve pairs meant one driver missed out - and that was Stephen this time. We'd have two 8-minute qualifying heats and then a consolation race and a feature - no step-ups this month. Drivers changed - in the pits - at four minutes.

   

Heat one was particularly strong with Oliver & Ash - winners last time out - lining up alongside Mike D & Steve. It was the #79 Camaro of Oliver & Ash that prevailed, finishing on 46 laps - two ahead of Mike & Steve's white Camaro. Another '71 Camaro was third - Dean & Mike A clocking up 42 laps, one ahead of the Mercury Cougar of Kev & Isaac. Andy & Rob A's '69 Camaro was fifth on 40 laps and Simon & Duncan's lime-green Dodge Challenger sixth on 39 laps. A strong heat and it was possible all six pairs could qualify for the feature.

   

There were just two '71 Camaros in the second qualifying heat - Rob & Ollie's #46 probably the favourite, although John & Scott looked a formidable team in their #1 Brut car. The only Ford in the field was Matthew & James' '65 Mustang, but there was another '69 Camaro for Jaxson & Kinsley, the McCann Cougar and the return of the Hornet for Simon M & Kevin G...

   

This was a slower heat, with some carnage on the track and in the pits. Rob and Ollie came through unscathed and with a score of 42 laps that put them comfortably in the feature race. The target for the rest was to beat Andy & Rob's score of 40 laps from the first heat. The Camaro of John & Scott fell two laps short - as did the Cougar of Mike & Stephen. They would start second and third in the consolation race. Matthew & James brought the Mustang home fourth on 37 laps, five ahead of Jaxson and Kinsley's Camaro. The Hornet rolled in sixth with 24 laps.

   

Two green cars lined up on the front row for the consolation race - Simon & Duncan's Dodge Challenger alongside John & Scott's Brut Camaro. At the back, Simon M made a great start with the Hornet...

   

Close in the early stages, Scott gradually eased out a lead and he and John were a lap up on the Mustang and the Cougar at halfway. The Dodge had issues and dropped behind Jaxson & Kinsley's Camaro - with the Hornet at the back.

   

Matthew drove a brilliant closing stint and put maximum pressure on John - both cars finishing on 40 laps, but with the Camaro crossing the line first. Jaxson was also driving well, getting the #2 Camaro up to third before a late pit stop allowed Stephen to get past in the McCougar. Thirty-eight laps for the junior racers was a huge six lap improvement on their heat and right up on the pace of far more experienced racers. Simon and Duncan's Challenger was fifth with 37 laps. The Hornet rolled in sixth, the 24 laps identical to the heat score.

   

The front row of the feature race was a carbon copy of Heat One - the orange #79 and white #11 1971 Camaros. A fast start saw Ash, Ollie, Steve and Dean battle for the lead, the relatively inexperienced Steve showing good form this time out. Kev and Rob A weren't far behind, early offs dropping them back the length of the main straight...

   

Ash gradually established a two-lap lead over Ollie, with Dean handing over to Mike A in third, just ahead of Steve. Oliver had a comfortable advantage as he took over the orange Camaro, although Rob B kept the pressure on. It was a battle of the Mikes for third - Mike A driving brilliantly at only his second WHO digital event to keep Mike D honest. In the end, Oliver crossed the line three laps ahead of Rob B - and it was Mike D who held on to third, finishing on the same lap at Dean & Mike A's Brut Camaro. Isaac took fifth, a lap up on Andy & Rob A...

   

Congrats to Oliver & Ash on their second Trans-Am win of 2026!

   

And that was it for the evening. A big thank you to everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable three hours at the Barn. Special thanks goes to the set-up and Race Control crews and all those who stayed behind at the end to pack away - we couldn't do it without you.

That's our last Nascar & Trans-Am Wednesday for now - newcomers will need to wait until July & August for another pair of introductory evenings. 

Next we have the inaugural WHO American SpeedFest on Saturday 21 February. Then our 2026 WHO GT Championship kicks off on Wednesday 11 March with the first of three two-hour races, before a four-hour climax on Saturday 20 June. Cars for the GT Championship are prepared by our Gold drivers (or their deputy).

New racers must have at least one Nascar & Trans-Am event under their belts to qualify as a Bronze driver and take part in the Saturday and GT Championship races.