A freestanding collision obstacle is disclosed which is propelled away from a collision obstacle sensing apparatus by the force of a collision event that occurs when a moving object, for example a toy vehicle such as a racecar, collides with the collision obstacle. A collision obstacle sensing apparatus is disclosed which incorporates a collision obstacle and a collision obstacle sensor, the latter of which senses the presence or absence of the collision obstacle. The collision obstacle sensing apparatus is thus used to detect an event time as the time of a collision event. Use of a collision obstacle and a collision obstacle sensing apparatus in each lane at the finish line of a multilane raceway, with the moving objects individually confined to respective lanes of the raceway, enables electronic determination of the outcome of a race. Preferred embodiments are disclosed using optical and/or capacitance sensors.