Take a lap around the Norburging as described by author Mo Moscovitz in 1993 and published in the Prancing Horse magazine. The original layout matched the Estoril circuit in Portugal. However, as time went by many changes were made and in the end the track was named the Norburging by Jason Boye who did the majority of the contruction work. This link is for fun and entertainment purposes only, we do not sell slot car related items. - Norm Welch

Portugal in a Play Room

Prancing Horse (issue #107) - By Mo Moscovitz

Norm Welch is a man whose love for all things F-1 has led him in several interesting directions. Already a successful business owner, his trucking company has provided him the wherewithal to start a new venture; the mail-order marketing of F-1 model kits and other F-1 related accessories. It has also provided him with the time, space, and money to fulfill a childhood dream.

Starting as far back as 1959, Norm's Dad (who did some amateur racing) scoured Road & Track and Car & Driver for news of F-1, Can-Am, and Le Mans type racing. His enthusiasm rubbed off on Norm. Later, they went to many of the original Group 7 and Can-Am races at Laguna Seca in addition to the USGP at Watkins Glen. Norm feels privileged to have had the opportunity to watch the likes of Stirling Moss, Jimmy Clark, John Surtees, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, and Dan Gurney at work, and can recall seeing Roger Penske drive a car of his own design.

Asked to name his favorites, Norm mentions Stirling Moss, as much for the humanity he showed in taking Dan Gurney under his wing as for his on-track prowess. Clark, however, ranks #1 in his memories. The one year he and his Dad saw Clark at Seca, Clark had a lap on the field before running over some debris from a competitors car, there by ending his race.

One year, at Christmas, Norm got a slot car set from his Dad. He had a 'blast' with it, and related the activity to what he had seen at the track and read about in his Dad's magazines. In Norm's own words, "...from the time I was just a kid, I thought, wouldn't it be amazing to build something close to a real circuit..."

Fast forward to 1989. Norm was buying some model building supplies at a local hobby shop when he met Jason Boye, an architect and master modeller, who showed him some pictures of a slot car track he had recently built for himself. Here, in H.O. scale was an authentic, functioning replica of the Monaco street circuit, accurate right down to the shingles on the roof of the Rascasse Cafe!

With Norm's trucking business now housed in a 40,000 sq. feet warehouse, space was no longer a problem. Jason consented to provide assistance, and together they planned and built the track. Five months later, they were done and the green flag fell.

Using the Estoril, Portugal F-1 circuit as the basic layout, they made changes and improvements as they went along. The primary goal was to build a challenging and fun-to-drive slot car track. There were many considerations: hills needed to be gradual enough not to launch the cars; advertising billboards were placed around challenging corners to perform double duty as backstops to catch airborne slot cars; and the landscape had to be laid out in such a way that cars which leave the track are always retrievable. Perhaps most importantly, the cars need to be visible to the 'driver' everywhere on the track. With more than 20 turns and numerous elevation changes, this required quite a bit of forethought and planning. The results are spectacular.

Rocks, grass and trees were available through supply houses, but Norm and Jason added their own touches to these to increase authenticity. Norm recalls with a laugh his drastic under-estimation of how many trees it takes to make a forest. (In the end, more than 1000 trees were used.) Curbing and sandtraps were built from scratch. The curb ing was painted blue and white or fluorescent red and white, depending on the primary sponsor theme of the particular corner, just as it is at Estoril. The graphics and billboards were diligently sought out and clipped from magazines, etc., then made proper size through the use of a color copying machine. The Armco was built using three strips of 'train strut' fastened to uprights. This was extremely tedious and time consuming. The paddock area is very authentic looking, and there is even a Med-Evac heliport complete with helicopter.

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