quote:

Originally posted by Bucky:

quote:

Originally posted by Boucher Jr:

quote:

Originally posted by Bucky:
So by "work on your car" we mean, "make it slow"?
I see a comment about making your car work in all conditions. We can't accurately make blanket statements like that. I have seen track conditions that were worse than the street in front of my house. NOBODY was safely going anywhere. I don't think we pay our money strictly for an ambulance, guard rails and a timing system. Our expectations ought to be a little higher than that. The thread is about track conditions that aren't good, not about cars that can't make even a great track work for them.

YOU cant make statements like that. He didnt "make it slow" he made it WORK. For instance, sat night at the grove a few years ago it was in the mid to upper 30s so ya an already iffy track was junk. While the whinney majority was *****in and cryin to call the race the ol digger laid down five 4.65's in a row on a track the babies said "was too dangerous" and postponed it. Thus, the difference in utilizing your brain, and being someone that only internet races and dreams of magical pinion angles and instant centers. You dont even know what to adjust much less question why somebody else would work on their own car lmao.

What are you talking about hos?

Dont have time to spell out so u can understand. Short version= tracks do not owe anybody ****. If they decide to cover it in bannana peels between rounds you go down bannana peels or go home. The other comments refer to your lack of knowledge and comprehension of a drag race suspension and inability to make a car work on anything thrown at it which forces you to make stupid statements like "Our expectations oughta be higher". Thats bush league thinking. Theres 2 expectations a racer gets to have of a track, 1, their check doesnt bounce, 2, the clocks are accurate. Thats it.

Sounds like street racing. Which would be fine with me, I made more money street racing then I'll ever make on the track.
But, I do disagree with you about expectations...Any time you pay for a product up front before you have a chance to use it, I feel you have every right to expect it will preform as advertised. And I seriously doubt there's a track in America that boasts on their website that "Our track is ****...or it WILL be shortly"

quote:

Originally posted by imakehp:
Sounds like street racing. Which would be fine with me, I made more money street racing then I'll ever make on the track.
But, I do disagree with you about expectations...Any time you pay for a product up front before you have a chance to use it, I feel you have every right to expect it will preform as advertised. And I seriously doubt there's a track in America that boasts on their website that "Our track is ****...or it WILL be shortly"

Ok then whats advertised? Maybe it's because I dont read the fine print but I sure as hell have never seen advertised on a flyer "track will be +/- 5 blonde cunt hairs of perfect all weekend!" It's a big money bracket race were talkin about here, you know theyre going to attempt to take care of it wether half or full assed and thats that. Like my ol man told me one night after I told him I was dialin up a second on the 1/8 "Na, stay conservative for this guy, just go up .3 so you can get there in case ya need to put it in the fence you dont need to hold a bunch tho." Sometimes, you gotta be able to cover a little parasitic drag from the fence, such is life.

On a no prep track a lot of people use Davis traction control and the grid. Street Outlaws use it.

Matty boxes are still better than this ^^

Still the original question was not how to set up a car or what track is the Greatest of all time but how to prep a track to make it hook?

Correct. So it seems to me nobody really knows if the tractor helps or hurts. Just Say'n

From what Ive seen , the tractor does not help with what that issue

this^^^

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Originally posted by DragRaceResults:
We all race at that one track or possibly even a couple that seem like they are bad to the bone start to finish all day long deep into the night. Why?

With that said, I think most track prep guys try to do as much as they can especially in the late rounds. Is that the right thing to do? Seriously, are they trying to hard and creating the issue?

My question is why does a track need broomed or drug when no cars are running.

Is the track just cold and does the tractor just not help or is the tractor hurting?

Do track workers not run the tractor when it's warm because they're not worried and then the track work and they a s s u m e it's because it's warm and don't think possibly it was because they "didn't" run the tractor?

Has the glue changed? Has our thought on track prep changed? Is it a tire issue?

Again, it's a $ issue. $ for proper training by experts, $ for the right size crew, $ for glue, $ for time it takes the crew to scrap, prep correctly, touch up and maintain. $ the track owner, manager will not spend IF his customers don't speak with their $ by going elsewhere when track conditions are routinely an issue for many.

After you get pass the $ required to prep and maintain a track for the typical weekly bracket race no mind a big $ race with 400 cars competing, then we can talk about the $ issue with bracket racers themselves, many who can't afford to race at all no mind the level they chose to and therefore have little to no $ to spend on their car every season no mind to put a new set of slicks on every season. Too many want to be the guy that gets more passes than anyone on his slicks.

That said, it's the year 2018, not everyone has or wants a cutup, over tired, under powered shytbox that launches solely on the tire. Today many of the cars in the super pro lanes at track all across the country are quicker/faster than Pro stock cars were 20 years ago. Track prep is just as much about safety today as is the jersey barriers, diapers and collector tethers, all of which weren't necessary no mind mandated 20 years ago no mind back in the day.

quote:

Originally posted by DragRaceResults:
Correct. So it seems to me nobody really knows if the tractor helps or hurts. Just Say'n

Our track does a brush in front and a drag in the rear of the tractor. I think what it does do is get some of the dirt either off the track or pushed into the rubber layer. The drag can take water and oil drips, and spread them out far enough that they either evaporate, or can get absorbed into the rubber. Dilution is the solution to pollution. It's a quick touch up that may do a little good, and probably not much harm. That's the way my track seems to use it anyhow.

quote:

Originally posted by DragRaceResults:
Correct. So it seems to me nobody really knows if the tractor helps or hurts. Just Say'n

We have one that helps for sure, but it is the rotating slick type like at the national events.

The one with the slicks that drag is just normally used to bed in the traction compound after a oil down or whatever gets on the track.

If you want all you can get come out at the end of this month to the drag radial race. Stupid amounts of compound are used. I know that has no bearing on the OP.

Curtis

quote:

Originally posted by DragRaceResults:
Correct. So it seems to me nobody really knows if the tractor helps or hurts. Just Say'n

If you're talking about a tractor with a tire rotator .... yes it helps every time.


If you're talking about a drag ..... not so much. Race track prep isn't much different than tuning a race car for weather ...... it's a moving target i.e. blanket statements are difficult to make.



.

Has anything been taken out of the traction compounds? Many yrs. ago I heard there was but no proof to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Footloose:
Has anything been taken out of the traction compounds? Many yrs. ago I heard there was but no proof to me.

EPA

quote:

Originally posted by Footloose:
Has anything been taken out of the traction compounds? Many yrs. ago I heard there was but no proof to me.

that's what track management will tell you when their starting line sucks!

All you need to do is open your eyes and watch what they do/don't do after a race is completed and what they do/don't do 2 hours before a race starts.

I didn’t read all the gas bagging so in advance I apologize if I’m reiterating what someone is already said. My opinion on the matter is, there are a bunch of very consistent drivetrain combinations out there today, but a lot of the faster ones are way too dependent on the track quality. We’re out here splitting hairs why in the world would you leave the biggest variable in the hands of the track crew? Take your car to the known “crappy” track of the area and give it what it wants to repeat there, simple.

this ^^^ I agree with and how I setup my cars.

Well this stinks, I was hoping for an argument.

so back it's about $...my home track Numidia Dragway doesn't open for 4 weeks yet they were prepping the track this weekend.

THAT's commitment, that's what's required to have a track/starting line that is second to none and that requires spending $!

I watched a fair amount of the race at VMP over the weekend and only remember their truck coming out after a spill. Don't think they dragged the track just to do so. Pretty cold in the early and late rounds and plenty of fast cars got down the track!