Here at the Diecast Database, we race on a scale quarter mile track (21.7 feet). We use the Hot Wheels 6 Lane Raceway as our starting gate, and a PlayRobotics 6 Lane Raceway Timing System for time tracking.

All tournaments are 72 car tournaments, limited to the fastest 72 cars in our collection, which is dynamically updated at all times through our rankings system. All tournaments are three rounds. The first round consists of 12 heats of 6 cars each, with each car possessing the fastest time in each heat advancing to the second round. In the second round, there are two heats of 6 cars each, with the fastest time from each advancing to the championship. The two cars in the championship are placed in lanes 2 and 5 for their first trip down the track, and then they have those lanes switched for their second time down the track. If the same car wins both races, that car is the champion. If those races are split, a third heat is run with the cars back in their original lanes, and the winner of that race is the champion. All times for all cars in all heats are logged.

The ranking system is in place to ensure our fastest 72 cars are the cars in tournament play. Car speed can vary over time and usage, so this system accounts for changes in the roster's performance. Any car that has 8 or more trips down the track in tournament play has their 8 recent most runs averaged and ranked against the field. New cars don't have the chance to race in tournament play, so their time trial times are used for ranking purposes. Once a car has 8 runs down the track, they are evaluated based on tournament performance rather than time trials. See more on the Rankings page.

Time trials refers to the process that all rostered cars undergo, where without any other cars on the track, the car cars takes 8 runs down the track. Each car takes 2 runs down lanes 2 and 5, and 1 run down the rest of the lanes. The car's slowest time is removed, and the median is calculated from the remaining 7 values. This median is used to determine whether a new car qualifies for tournament play, which is limited to our fastest 72 cars.

We don't use graphite to race.