John Ford has been a leading authority on slot car racing since 1965.

T

T.O.A. - Formerly known as the T.O.A.A., this orginazation has lost one A which stood for America, and now is simply known as the Track Owners Association. This group offers a montly newsletter and a yearly convention for slot car raceway owners.

T.Q. - Short for top qualifier, the fastest car or driver on the track.

"T" slot - One of the neatest ideas to come along back in the '60's was the "T" slot concept. These tracks had a special undercut slot that a special "T" shaped guide was fitted into. The guide would only fit in the slot in front of the drivers, and literally would not come out of the slot any where else on the track. To go along with this slot system, was the chairs, steering wheels, and foot pedals. You made the car go by pressing the pedal with your foot. When your car came to a corner, you had to turn the wheel in the direction of the turn, or your car would lose power. So in order to turn a fast lap, you would have to get the proper combination of turning the wheel in the proper direction of each turn while pounding the pedal on and off with your foot. Sounds easy right? Rental cars on this type of track had another "T" type guide in the rear which meant this car could not be driven off the track under any circumstances. Definately not legal today.

T-Jet - Short for Thunder Jet, a type of H.O. slot car produced by Aurora duringthe 60's. Now considered a collectors item.

Tag - The tag is epoxy'd to the armature and tells what class the armature will run in when it is placed in a motor.

Tapered axle - Another method of holding the tires on in the 60's. The axle was tapered down smaller on the end and the hub of the tire wedged into place and was held on by a jam nut.

Tech - That inspection process each car has to go through before being allowed to compete. The rules that apply change depending on which class you are racing.

Tech block - Usually made of wood or slate and used to hold the car while looking at it.

Tech check - When used in this manner, it usually referrs to the guage used to measure the chassis width, tire diameter, etc. Many different manufacturers make a multi-functional tech tool.

Tech inspector - The person in charge of the tech tool.

Tech sheet - That piece of paper you fill out that tells what components are used on your car. These statistics are usually then sent to magazines for publications.

Tech tool - A specially made tool for measuring all the dimensions that are critical for a car to pass technical inspection before allowed to compete.

Teflon spacer - Usually fitted above and below the guide post on the chassis. Teflon is used rather than metal, because it will allow the guide to move about more freely with almost no chance of binding.

Threaded axle - Fortunately, this is one thing that was left by the wayside from the 60's. We now hold our wheels on with allen screws. Of course if enough of you asked for it, we could go back to the threaded axles.... I didn't think so.

Thingies - All racers who are into the truly scale appearing slot cars call any car that does not look purely scale a "thingie". Thingie's have been a popular design since the beginning of slot racing. In fact, I guess you could call a 1to1 scale Indy car a "thingie" since it has no resemblance to a real car.

Thumb - What you used to apply power to your car during the 60's.

Thumper - A popular 1/32 scale slot car manufactured by Carl Ford of Champion Slot Car Products.

Timers - While a timer is used to time your car during competition, the timers in a raceway usually refer to those switches located behind the counter used to turn the lanes on and off when selling track time.

Time trials - That portion of a race where the fastest racer is found. Usually the racer with the quickest time gets his or her choice of lanes to start the race on.

Timed event - Nearly all slot races are timed events, meaning that all competitors are racing against the clock and not to a finish line.

Timing - The timing on your armature is changed by turning the commutator on the shaft. Don't try this without studing the process completely. If your comm tab is located directly between two poles it has 0 degrees of timing. Advancing your timing will improve performance, but it only takes a little. Be prepared to ruin some arms before you get this trick down.

Tinned - This is a term that referrs to the coating of your new soldering iron tip with solder. By plugging in the iron, and melting solder on the tip, you should completely cover the tip with the molten solder. Then unplug the iron, and clean it on a wet sponge. This tinning process should be performed on all new soldering iron tips when they are new, and before they are used for soldering.

Tires - Commonly referring to the rears wheels and tires on a slot car. Since the fronts on a slot car today rarely posses a tire, and the majority of the rubber on a modern slot car is on the rear, tires has come to refer to the rears on tech sheets and other places of definition.

Tire truer - A precision machine used to make the rear tires perfectly flat, increasing the contact patch and giving greater traction.

Tongue & groove - A type of slot car track construction that allows the sections to be fitted together at the joint. There is a big difference of opinion as to whether this connection is best or not. Those who use it claim it makes the joint fit better, which it does. Those who do not use it claim that a track with this type of joint which sits in storage for an extended period of time will warp, causing extreme problems with re-assembly.

Track - Most commonly heard in competition when someone wants the power cut off. I don't need to tell you that it is also that thing you race your car on do I?

Track call - When "track" is called out by one of the racers, or marshall's, the power is cut off and whatever condition caused the track call is rectified, then the power is cut back on and the racing resumed.

Tracks - In 1 to1 scale racing, there is the argument that dirt is for racing on and asphault is for getting there. In slot racing, we say wood is for racing on, asphault is for getting there, and dirt is for farming.

Traditional track - A term used to describe a track that retains the traditional dimensions of the original design from the 60's.

Tree - Shortened term for the christmas tree in drag racing.

Triangles - A simple shape that has become the standard for slot car track legs. Two triangles placed peak to peak and connected together make up the platform that fits under the surface, and on the floor.

Trigger - That part of the controller you pull to make the car go. If this was the 60's, you would pull the trigger with your thumb?

Trik-Trax - John Sojack and Sarah Shedd are the originators of this company. Though they make many items for slot racers including a magnet zapper, they are most noted for their drag racing system.

Tri-oval - An oval track with three left turns.

Tripod - A design of frame used in the upper classes of slot racing. I don't know who was the first person credited with the use of this triangle shaped frame, but Craig Landry made it famous with his combination wire steel versions.

Trophy - A type of award given out tothe winners. Trophy's are usually reserved as awards of major events.

Tub Track - A name given by some to the commercial Aurora H.O. track. The name was because it looked like a tub when upside down. It was a one piece fiberglass unit with the standard Aurora plastic track as a roadbed.

Tunkel tracks - The name brand for tracks built by Ed and Carol Tunkel of Tennessee.

Turn marshal - That thing you try to get out of doing. Each race is comprised of two portions. That in which you compete with your car on the track, and that portion in which you take a spell at re-slotting de-slotted cars.

Turbo - Parma International came up with this type of controller that is most commonly used by slot car racers. It is made up of a double barrel resistor & plastic trigger assembly mounted on an annodized aluminum frame.

Tyres - Same as above, but spelled the British and some European's do it.

Tyco - A brand of H.O. car. Produced by Mattel, the toy people.

Tweak - Sometimes your chassis is tweaked, or bent, when it hits the wall. Sometimes, it is intentionally tweaked to make it handle better. Much the same as weight jacking on a 1 to 1 scale race car.

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