Fast and furious.

• Position: What's new? Holiday gifts galore - Toy car racing - Brief Article - Buyers Guide

For those who find that running a model railroad is fun, but tame, Scalextric USA, Tacoma, Wash., has just the things to get their adrenaline pumping with its slot racing sets. Built to a 1:32 scale, the cars fairly fly around the rounded-corner triangular tracks, offering all the thrills of stock-car racing without the threat of vehicle and driver going up in flames after bouncing off a wall.

Taurus' NASCAR Super Speedway ($189.95) matches a pair of Fords, one emblazoned with Motorcraft markings, the other proclaiming Citgo. Each racer gets a controller to run his or her car at carefully chosen speeds, pushing it to the utmost without flying off the track or spinning out on the...