Setting up Hot Wheels tracks was always a lot of fun, especially making super long or complicated ones. As a kid, that usually meant using all your track pieces or building a course that went under the couch and came out the other side. Now that former NASA engineer Mark Rober is in the game, the bar is much higher. He and his team set a new world record with a track that is over a half mile long. It travels up and down staircases, through walls, and back and forth on countless switchbacks.
Though the video above doesn’t say exactly how long the track is, Rober does specify that it’s more than half a mile long. The previous Guinness World record was just under half a mile, so that should do it. The previous record holder also just went in a straight line down a road. This indoor course is a lot more fun to watch. Rober also mentions that the team used more than 75 Hot Wheels speed boosters for this long track, which are allowed. It looks like there’s one at every switchback on the epic wall the car travels down as part of the course.
Mark Rober and the Crunch Labs team also own a couple of other world records. You can learn more about them on their YouTube channel. They set up the most dominoes using a rover-like robot and made the highest elephant toothpaste tower. Other engineering feats they’ve pulled off include squirrel obstacle courses and the ever-popular glitter bombs for package thieves.
Another DIY Hot Wheel world record we’ve seen topple recently is the most loop-the-loops. Other people have also set up epic backyard tracks, including a treetop version. If you prefer your Hot Wheels officially licensed, there’s sets like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mario Kart, and Star Wars to please any racing fan.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.
