Strombecker Raceways

Strombecker Raceways was a chain of slotcar venues extending over the United States of America.

The concept was simple: with not much more than a large room with electricity and lighting, and someone to supervise and take money, one could create a "sporting" slotcar competition venue just by adding a large central table-like platform and a large wodge of slotcar equipment (track, power supplies and controllers) ... which, if one was a manufacturer, could be produced at nominal cost (because one already had factory machines churning out this equipment for the retail market).

1966 advertising:

REGISTER AT AN OFFICIAL STROMBECKER RACEWAYS CENTER NOW!

Nothing to buy! All you do is race your car – any 1/32 scale car – against the others (winning cars need not be Strombeckers) in your neighbourhood or town.

Race your model car for trophies ... for fame and fortune at the official STROMBECKER RACEWAYS CENTER near you. Competition in your area will be starting soon; neighbourhood champs go on to compete with guys from other cities and towns in the big Regional Racing Meets to be held in early 1966. Regional winners then compete in the All-American Racing Meeting in Detroit. And then the big one! Next spring a lucky guy, along with a parent or companion, will fly to Paris via Air France to compete in the Strombecker world-wide International Racing Competition!

1966 Strombecker Raceways sites list:

Strombecker's list of their "Raceways" slotcar racing locations around the US gives an indication of just how big the slotcar boom was at its height:

ALABAMA

• Birmingham
• Mobile

ARIZONA

• Mesa
• Phoenix
• Tempe

ARKANSAS

• Little Rock

CALIFORNIA

• Alameda
• Burbank
• Campbell
• Covina
• Fontana
• Fremont
• Fresno
• Fullerton
• Gilroy
• Hayward
• Long Beach
• Los Angeles (×2)
• Milpitas
• Oxnard
• Point Mugu
• Riverside
• Salinas
• San Luis Obispo
• Santa Ana
• Seaside
• Ventura

COLORADO

• Arvada
• Colorado Springs
• Denver
• Grand Junction
• Westminster

DELAWARE

• Wilmington

FLORIDA

• Clearwater
• DeLand
• Jacksonville
• Jacksonville Beach
• Panama City
• Port Charlotte
• Tampa

GEORGIA

• Atlanta (×2)
• College Park
• Columbus
• Sandy Springs
• Savannah
• Tucker

ILLINOIS

• Belleville
• Calumet Park
• Chicago (×5)
• Glenview
• Highwood
• Lincoln
• Loves Park
• Niles
• Quincy
• Schiller Park
• Skokie

INDIANA

• Gary
• Indianapolis
• Wabash

IOWA

• Bettendorf
• Burlington
• Cedar Rapids
• Council Bluffs
• Creston
• Des Moines
• Fort Dodge
• Le Mars
• Marshalltown

KANSAS

• Emporia

MARYLAND

• Silver Spring
• Westminster

MASSACHUSETTS

• Allston
• Attleboro
• Chelsea
• E. Dartmouth
• Fitchburg
• Florence
• Framingham
• Hyde Park
• Lynn
• Needham
• New Bedford

MICHIGAN

• Farmington
• Flint
• Lincoln Park
• Royal Oak
• St Clair Shores
• Wyoming

MINNESOTA

• Duluth

MISSISSIPPI

• Jackson

MISSOURI

• Brentwood
• Florissant
• St. Charles

NEBRASKA

• Omaha (×2)

NEW HAMPSHIRE

• Concord
• Portsmouth

NEW JERSEY

• Parsippany
• Woodbury

NEW YORK

• Albany
• Buffalo (×3)
• Cheektowaga
• Crugers
• Hamburg
• Jamestown
• Kenmore
• Lackawanna
• Levittown
• Mamaroneck
• Troy
• Westbury, Long Island

NORTH CAROLINA

• Burlington
• Chapel Hill
• Charlotte
• Concord
• Greensboro
• Salisbury

OHIO

• Cleveland
• Columbus
• Delaware
• Newark
• Parma
• Piqua
• West Mansfield
• Youngstown

OREGON

• Beaverton

PENNSYLVANIA

• Brentwood
• Chester
• Irwin
• Philadelphia
• Pittsburgh
• Pottstown
• Willow Grove
• York

SOUTH CAROLINA

• Anderson
• Spartanburg

TENNESSEE

• Chattanooga (×2)
• Cleveland
• Harriman

TEXAS

• Dallas (×2)
• El Paso
• Houston (×2)

UTAH

• Salt Lake City
• Tooele

VIRGINIA

• Chesapeake
• Oceans
• Richmond

WASHINGTON

• Seattle
• Spokane

WEST VIRGINIA

• Charleston
• Huntington
• Morgantown (×2)
• Nitro

WISCONSIN

• Green Bay
• Hartford
• Janesville
• Kimberly
• Manitowoc
• Milwaukee (×3)