Patent ID: 7339478

Claim:
A system for automatically tracking each individual vehicle of a plurality of toy vehicles in a multiple lap race around a track, comprising: said race conductible at a plurality of substantially similarly configured said tracks; an RFID tag having an electronic memory for storage of the identity of said vehicle, said RFID tag mountable on said vehicle; said RFID tag having means for RF transmission of said information; at least one gate on each said track having a transmitter, said transmitter located adjacent to a toy race track on which said vehicle is raced; said transmitter emitting sufficient EMF to energize said RFID tag to an energized state only when in close proximity to said gate; said RFID tags emitting an RF transmission of said identity information only when in said energized state; means for receipt of said information contained in said RF transmission from said RFID tags; a computer communicating with said means for receipt of said information said computer communicating with a computer network; and software resident in said computer, said software providing a means initially identify each said vehicle from said information, at each said track, to thereby compile a list of participants in each said multiple lap race at each said track and to track the progress of each of said individual vehicles in said plurality of vehicles in each said multiple lap race by adding an aggregate number of passes past said gate to thereby determine a leader, based on said information received by from each said means for receipt of said information.