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Post by rebel1 on Dec 7, 2008 20:41:50 GMT 12
Really enjoyed reading your thread schumaaka and have looked at both Huntly and WP tracks differently since. I worked in road construction years ago and have often looked at tracks and indifferent surfaces that occur at tracks and wondered why.
Given the amount of money spent on the machinery that races on speedway tracks and the profile of some of these events eg NZ champs and the like it is important that the tracks for these events allow a good level of racing including the ability to pass and are not one lane, follow the leader processions.
I look forward to seeing the cromwell track and how it copes with the Super Saloon champs with extremely high temperatures in January.
I hope a few of the people that prepare the tracks around the country take the time to stop and read your thread.
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Post by schumaaka on Dec 10, 2008 17:28:10 GMT 12
Theres nothing worse than going to an event to find that its a slick track dust bowl from the second race. And conversly a plowed paddock that is has only 1 drivey line is also terrible for everyone. Drivers and the crowd deserve a firm drivey track that allows them to use the whole circut with very little speed difference between the outside and inside lanes. This is not rocket science. Thanks for sharing your track prep knowledge schumaaka. Below are some recent comments on this topic from WoO pilot Terry McCarl... Jeff S. asks: First off, I want to say what a pleasure you are to watch when you're on TV or around the Osky/Knoxville area. You have always been a showman for the sport. With the financial situation that everybody is feeling right now, what changes do you foresee in the future of sprint car racing and in particular, what can sprint car racing in general do to grow as a sport? Thanks!
TMAC answers: Everyone has their opinion on how to make the racing better. We’re in our World of Outlaws meeting, and (Executive Vice President) Ben Geisler tells us, “We’re thinking about changing the format. You need to remember, the fans are important.” You think we don’t know the fans are important? I told him I’d fix the biggest problem. The format is fine. At a lot of the places we go, the track prep is horrible. I’m no dirt expert, and neither are Kinser or Schatz, but when we show up to some of these places, we ask ourselves, “What’s going on?” We laid rubber two or three times this year time trialing. Someone from the World of Outlaws can’t see that, and tell the track guys to water the thing? I wish the WoO would assume more responsibility for track prep. I understand not everyone is the Dunkin’s (Knoxville), and some nights they even have a down night. It’s dirt. Our biggest problem is track prep. Not just with the Outlaws, but with a lot of local tracks too. Once in awhile, the fans wouldn’t mind if you took 20 minutes to rework a track if it makes the show better. (Former WoO competition director) Bobby Jackson was the master of looking at a dirt track and telling the water truck what did or didn’t need to be done. Don Grabey (current competition director) worked with Bobby and has the same qualifications, but Ben and the WoO has him blowing up balloons and &*$#! Let him call some shots with the track prep. Elma, Washington laid rubber in time trials. That shouldn’t be. What a great track with great fans. They don’t deserve it. They’re not going to come back and blame the track, they’re going to blame the Outlaws, and that’s what happened. We could tell before the night started that it was going to happen. There’s no excuse. Now a fan says, “I paid $35 for that B.S.?” It has to stop.The worst thing about this is that they are paying for it and its still getting done wrong. Its hard on the competitors and on the fans at least its not just a localised problem. It just takes time and dedication and Time,and Time. The sport should have a track team/ Advisor for each of the champs so that they get it right. |
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Post by Stevo on Dec 11, 2008 9:50:39 GMT 12
Following on from Terry McCarls comments, it's not just the fans that blame the big tyred classes for creating track problems. I am a big fan of sprintcars and superstocks and am fortunate enough to be in a part of the country that runs both classes. I was talking to a superstock driver who's comment was "I hate racing here when the "dust spreaders" (his reference for sprintcars) are here, it ***ks the track).
I dread to think what it's going to be like when the sprintcar champs are here.
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Post by schumaaka on Dec 12, 2008 10:11:42 GMT 12
Following on from Terry McCarls comments, it's not just the fans that blame the big tyred classes for creating track problems. I am a big fan of sprintcars and superstocks and am fortunate enough to be in a part of the country that runs both classes. I was talking to a superstock driver who's comment was "I hate racing here when the "dust spreaders" (his reference for sprintcars) are here, it ***ks the track). I dread to think what it's going to be like when the sprintcar champs are here. 800hp, 680kg and 100% hook-up thats the biggest test at any speedway. If you pack it tight you will control how much the cars take off the track each lap. If its too loose the material will be sloppy when you water, they will sweep it all to the wall in the first race and you will be left with the hard and slick base, and welcome to the dust bowl. This grade takes the most work to get right. When packing the track when grading you just need to ensure that it is packed tighter and I use the truck for 2 laps after each race to level out the material that they sweep to the wall so that they can keep using this area. Roll on the NZ Sprint Car championships 2009-10 |
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