Start your engines, everyone

For a child with a box full of die-cast cars, a race track rug is just about the best gift there is: a winding orange track with loops and jumps, a speedway with a pit lane and grandstands, or a city full of streets and parking lots, all printed right on the floor. Ours are printed edge to edge on soft velvet, so the track lines stay crisp, and the short, smooth pile lets little cars roll freely, much better than on a thick, shaggy rug. Every rug goes in the washing machine, which matters in a room where snacks and races happen at the same time.

A brief history of die-cast racing

Mattel launched Hot Wheels in 1968 with sixteen small die-cast cars, designed to look like the hot rods and custom cars of California and built with low-friction wheels that made them fast on the famous orange track. Early models with a red stripe on their tires, now known to collectors as Redlines, are some of the most prized toys in the world. Since then, billions of the little 1:64-scale cars have been made, and generations of kids have raced them down hallways, across kitchen floors and around homemade cardboard tracks.

Race track designs

Design	How kids play	Best size
Orange stunt track	Loops, jumps and curves for stunt runs	4×6 or 5×7 ft
Oval speedway	Racing laps, pit stops and photo finishes	4×6 or 5×7 ft, or round
Road course	Hairpin turns, chicanes and straights	5×7 ft or custom
City streets	Driving, parking, delivering and rescuing	4×6 ft and up
Off-road and monster trucks	Dirt tracks, ramps and mud pits	3.3×5 ft and up

The orange stunt track is the design kids recognize first, and it doubles as a play surface for their own cars.

Orange tracks, loops and jumps

The bright orange track is part of nearly every die-cast racer's childhood. A rug with an orange track winding across it, with printed loops, ramps, jumps and a finish line, gives cars somewhere to race even when the real track pieces are packed away, and it combines beautifully with plastic track sets laid on top. It turns the whole floor into one giant stunt park.

Speedways and pit stops

An oval speedway rug, with lanes, a start and finish line, a pit lane and grandstands full of fans, is perfect for racing laps and staging championship finals. A round rug, from 3.9 to 5.9 ft (120 to 180 cm), makes a natural, endless circuit around its edge. Our round rugs page shows each size in a room.

City streets

For children who love driving as much as racing, a city street rug, with crossroads, parking spaces, a gas station, a car wash and a garage, makes every car part of a bigger story. Fire trucks rush to the station, police cars patrol the block and delivery vans make their daily rounds. For more road and town designs, see our kids play rugs.

Flames and checkered flags

Flame graphics and checkered flags are the signature look of racing culture. A flame or checkered-flag rug is a great choice for a car lover's bedroom, even on the days when it isn't being used as a racetrack. For checkerboards in other colors, see our checkered rugs.

Monster trucks and off-road

Many young racers absolutely love monster trucks: huge tires, crushed cars and big jumps. An off-road rug with dirt tracks, ramps and mud pits gives monster trucks and rally cars somewhere to roar. It's a big favorite for preschoolers who love noise, mud and action.

Real racing, little cars

Many young racers are inspired by the real thing on television. Stock cars thunder around the banked oval at Daytona, home of the Daytona 500 since 1959; open-wheel cars race at the Indianapolis 500, first run in 1911; and Formula 1 now holds several races in the United States every year. A speedway rug modeled on a famous oval, or a road course with sweeping corners, lets kids recreate the races they watch with their own cars.

The hallway drag strip

Every family with die-cast cars eventually holds races down the hallway. A long, narrow custom rug, up to 10 ft long, printed as a straight drag strip with a starting tree of lights and a finish line, makes it official. Choose Standard there, so the rug stays put while racers crouch at the start.

Learning through racing

Racing play is full of quiet lessons: counting laps, sorting cars by color, taking turns, keeping score and discovering, ramp by ramp, that a steeper slope makes a faster car. A race track rug turns all of that into a game, and children don't even notice they're learning.

Keeping cars and tracks tidy

A play rug also gives toys a home. Keep a bin or a wall rack of cars right beside the rug, so racing can start in seconds and cleanup is quick. Children quickly learn that the cars live by the track.

Gifts for racers

A race track rug is a great gift for a young racer, a birthday, a holiday or a new playroom. An orange stunt track is the safest choice; a custom track with the child's name on the grandstand is the most exciting.

Kids' rooms and playrooms

A race track rug is one of the most played-on rugs a child can have. On a hard floor, choose Standard: 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, about 500 g/m², so the rug stays put during the most intense races. A 5×7 ft rug gives two or three children room to race side by side. For a softer bedroom rug, choose Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back, about 700 g/m², though cars roll a little more slowly on its deeper pile. Our bedroom rugs page has more layouts.

Collectors' display rooms

Die-cast collecting is a serious hobby for many adults, with rare treasure-hunt models and vintage cars displayed in cases and wall racks. A speedway or checkered-flag rug in a collector's room ties the display together and gives visiting kids a place to play with the cars that aren't on the shelves.

Car-loving families

For families who love real cars, a race track rug is a simple way to share that passion with the youngest members of the family. Pair it with a few vintage car posters and a toy garage, and it becomes the start of a lifelong interest. For famous racing characters, see our Disney Cars rugs, starring Lightning McQueen.

Birthday parties

Racing birthday parties are a perennial favorite: checkered-flag cakes, a car for every guest and races to decide the winner. A race track rug makes a perfect party centerpiece and stays in the child's room afterward. Order early, since every rug is printed to order.

Garages and car-themed rooms

A race track rug isn't only for bedrooms. In a finished garage, a basement rec room or a car enthusiast's den, a checkered-flag or speedway rug adds a touch of racing culture, especially beside a workbench, a few framed racing posters and a shelf of model cars.

Your own racetrack

Want a racetrack with your child's name on the grandstand, a map of your own neighborhood as a road course or a track in your favorite team's colors? Our custom rugs can print it in any size up to 5′11″ × 10′. Please only send artwork you're allowed to use; your child's name and your own designs are all fine. Custom rugs can't be returned, so please check names and spelling before ordering.

Other play rugs

If your child loves building as much as racing, see our Lego rugs, and for trains, our Thomas the Train rugs.

Standard or Premium

Standard is best for racing and active play on hard floors, because its non-slip back stays put and its shorter pile lets cars roll fastest. Premium is softer and warmer, best beside a bed or for quieter play. Both are printed the same way, so track lines stay crisp, and both go in the washing machine.

Sizes, shipping and returns

Rectangles come in 2×3, 2.6×3.9, 3.3×5, 4×6 and 5×7 ft. Round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across. Custom sizes go up to 5′11″ × 10′, for a really long track. Every rug is printed to order in 1–3 business days and ships from Turkey; US delivery usually takes 2–5 business days after that. Unused rugs can be returned within 30 days on US orders; custom rugs can't be returned.

Care

Machine wash on a gentle, cold cycle and let it air dry flat. Vacuum on a low setting between washes, and blot spills with cold water right away. The design is printed into the fibers, so the track stays bright and the lines stay crisp, lap after lap.

A note on the brand

Redlines and treasure hunts

Collectors have their own vocabulary for die-cast cars. The earliest models, made from 1968 to 1977, are called Redlines for the thin red stripe painted on their tires, and in good condition they are some of the most prized small cars in the hobby. Since 1995, special Treasure Hunt cars have been hidden among regular releases, marked with a small flame logo, and Super Treasure Hunts add rubber tires and special paint, sending collectors searching store pegs before school and after work.

Those details inspire rugs for collector rooms as well as playrooms. A pattern of tiny red-striped tires on black is a subtle nod for anyone who knows what a Redline is, a perfect rug in front of a display wall. A layout of store shelves full of cars, with one gleaming special model hidden among them, turns the floor into a treasure hunt, and a vintage-style blister pack card is a fun, graphic design for a garage or a den.

For families where parents collect and kids play, a rug that mixes a race track with a display case side brings both generations into the same room, one racing, one admiring.

Padrift is an independent studio. Hot Wheels is named only to describe the kind of play our race track designs are made for. We are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Mattel, and these rugs are not official Hot Wheels products.