Track Prep

[Bad Bug Two]

So... I haven't noticed if anyone has mentioned track prep... and I haven't raced my bug since 2005, but how is the track prep out there?

My car is almost ready to run again and with my limited time and money, I am shooting for August 20th to possibly be the only race I make this year, however, I may try to do one day of test n tune prior, either here in town or tow down to Wally World. If I decide to go out on a Wednesday or Friday night, do they prep the track on those days?

Thanks in advance!

[whe3ls]

they dont prep very well anymore, on fridays its a joke, they dont use vht anymore they use VP track bite "lane swap" 7 its like grease soon as temp drops below 65-70* its pathetic anymore. on saturdays they still prep OK, but on fridays just as bad as it used to be.

[97GSX]

they dont prep very well anymore, on fridays its a joke, they dont use vht anymore they use VP track bite "lane swap" 7 its like grease soon as temp drops below 65-70* its pathetic anymore. on saturdays they still prep OK, but on fridays just as bad as it used to be.

I disagree completely. The track prep is EXCEPTIONALLY better than it has EVER been - period. Friday nights are actually prepped, cleaned, etc. which they never were before the county purchased the track. I think they have improved the track tremendously overall, from what it used to be... just my $.02..

[whe3ls]

when i talk to the racers and i hear how SHITTY the prep is and how the cars cant hook except the all out drag cars its no better then ever, cleaned yes, sticky hell no.

[Ryfly05]

From my personal experience on friday nights, it starts out sticky and well prepped, but as the night goes on and it gets colder, the track gets slick as hell. I wont even race after the sun has gone down any more. On saturdays, at least last year, the track was prepped pretty well throughout the day/night. :2cents:

[Bad Bug Two]

So... probably with the 20th, of next month, being a "big event" the odds that it will be prepped well throughout the entire event should be better? I guess that I will find out!

Thanks for the opinions.

[a1320honda]

Its not that it gets cold, its that people complain about any breaks in a friday night program. So they prep at the beginning and thats it. Normal track prep is every 2 hours or so. So by 9pm the track needs sprayed which takes a good 20 minutes but they dont.

[Metz Motorsports]

So... probably with the 20th, of next month, being a "big event" the odds that it will be prepped well throughout the entire event should be better? I guess that I will find out!

Thanks for the opinions.

I'd say they will probably have a good track that night...and compaired to the old asphalt track that you last raced on here, this track on its worse day is 10 fold better than the old surface...I do agree that Friday nights are a bit spotty...and it generally seems to about the 400 foot mark that gets the high power cars loose. Even my 10.90 ride was a handfull on a friday night. But I would bet you'll be fine, people like to compare SCR's track prep to other concrete tracks and yeah it may not be as good...but hell these guys are still learning THEIR track (not the track prep persay, but what THEIR track surface likes). Fyi, I had the same 1.47-1.49 60 foot times at Walla Walla, Yakima as well as Spokane...if that speaks anything.

[Nathan J]

sounds like all the guys that cant hook should start looking at tuning on there susp if they cant get it to hook, every friday night i hang the tires no problem on a 11.60 car but it took a bit of susp tuning to do it and im on a drag radial not a full slick.

[mark6052]

Jeff you might want to try a shake down on another day than 20aug. its a big event, not the best for test an tune. also it will be very hot. track temp 120-140* its late summer! Whe3ls when you say temp is 65-70* do you mean track temp or air? As for why some allout racecars hook; its becacuse they do there home work. they KNOW that the track changes hourly. they check track surface temp. how many of you recheck tire pressure just before the run? and please dont trust that walmart tire gauge. I spent $250 for a gauge so it repeats and is accurate to 1/10th always. burnouts are more technical than most of you seem to know. consistancy with just the right amout of heat. I watch alot of you guys, you need help. most dont stage or launch like you should. many cant aim there car straight. The only thing consistant is the bitching, its the track prep. please. do your homework. check your tires, suspension, be humble enough to try learn more than you think you know now. And NO I dont think Im a great driver; I ask for help.

[a1320honda]

Last time I talked to Jim about friday night track prep, they werent doing anything different than last year. And my Honda was really hooking as the night went on. I cut my best ever multiple 1.60 60ft's late on a friday night due to constant tire pressure adjustment and longer burnouts as the night goes on. As Nathan said, i think most of the problem is in peoples supension or launching techniques. Thats why people should be going out on wednesday nights and working on that short track. I personly dont have anything bad to say about friday night track prep.

[Steve]

Yeah , that woud be true if the track wasn't slick as shit after the temp goes down.

[mark6052]

Last time they ran friday nite race my brother brought his street car down. no slicks. consistant 12.10s no more than .03 difference in his times. 60ft or et. mph was within 1-2. Why? he adjusted as he went, he knows his car an feels how it responds. It took him acouple years to learn it. Remember this; If the track is bad, its bad for everbody. winners adjust to it. whiners dont. This is not meant as a slap to anybody. Its my personal attitude to making my cars work. and some days I miss the setup. or it was bad cleanup, yeah thats it.

[Steve]

If you're running a low powered car , or a low powered , light car with big new slicks , and carrying ballast , then the tack is fine . I can hook out there with slicks and ballast , but before the 1/8th mile the track get so slick it's dangerous. At other tracks that use vht/methanol the surface doesn't turn to ice when the temp drops . I'm not saying that other tracks don't have varying conditions , but I've been to several tracks and none of them have gotten nearly as scarey when the temp drops.
I've read that some of the track prep personnel throughout the country have experimented with different mixes of the VP product , and that they have a cold weather compound , to address the downtrack issue as well as the temperature issue.

[mark6052]

VP experiments with its products. the LC7 is the best they have, good for 30-150* track temp. wide range, but wide way to apply it as well. they also have a liquid rosen for bad spots an such. I believe Jim uses them both. VP prefers using slicks to drag on the track because it melts like the slicks being used. Belting is ok, many use it. walla walla uses acouple of old tractor tires!

[Steve]

"good for 30-150" may be what the advertising says , but all over the country , tracks report the actual results . It works really good when the track is hot , and turns slick when it's cold.

[Danimal]

Was out there last night and my flip flops got stuck to the track and had to take them off.. Sticky as hell!!

[Steve]

Traction compound and tracks that hook. - CLASS RACER FORUM (http://www.classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=33766)

[trbo355]

I think one problem with traction a few weeks ago was the fact our weather sucked so bad that the track temp never got to where it should be to make it thru the night. My first run stuck awesome and then got worse as the night went on. Its no fault of the racetrack that it hasnt been working.

Get out there after a good hot sunny day and its gonna stick great till at least 11 o clock i bet. I know my car pretty well and was having issues all night till my last run when i almost tagged the wall. It was so-so on the line and junk about 30 feet out with random spots left and right that made it garbage.

[Jetblack]

They are prepping the track all the way to the finish, still, right? Love that. Launch, last year was so freaking sticky, I was very concerned about breaking stuff.

[a1320honda]

They usualy only prep to about the 1000ft. When i was sitting up by the reader boards thats where they went to.

[Bad Bug Two]

Jeff you might want to try a shake down on another day than 20aug. its a big event, not the best for test an tune.

Mark, agreed, that is why I stated this in my first post....

...I am shooting for August 20th to possibly be the only race I make this year, however, I may try to do one day of test n tune prior, either here in town or tow down to Wally World....

Again, I agree that I don't want to do shake down passes at a big event after changing a bunch of stuff and not racing in a long time! Just seeing the opinion of how relevant what I learn during the first time out may apply to the 20th of next month. I think that I will try and take the car to Wally World on the 23rd of this month, and then if that goes well, try one more time of just time only runs here in Spokane before the 20th of next month.

Thanks for all of the input!

:)

[mark6052]

walla walla and yakima use VP lc7. I called derrick tonite, he does apply it straight to 20% cut, when its warm enought to evaporate the alcohol. All 3 tracks use the same product. Spokane should be the best track of the 3. as for needing it sprayed all the way/ NOT needed for a 12sec car, 60ft is enough. I used to street race a 10sec car in Lewiston on chip sealed roads. as for a 9 sec bug once you get a couple gears you should be good. NOBODY even in a 7sec car has the torque to spin it once in high gear. There are usually other reasons, oil, antifreeze way out of the groove, etc. Every track is different, learn to ajust.

[Steve]

NOBODY even in a 7sec car has the torque to spin it once in high gear. There are usually other reasons, oil, antifreeze way out of the groove, etc. Every track is different, learn to ajust.

Bullshit . The traction is so bad right before 1/8 that my car spun the tires in high gear at least five times last year . It's like driving on a wet street . One time running against Marty , I didn't lift soon enough and it went completely sideways . Being that I had hundreds of passes without spinning in high gear, it caught me off guard. The next times it did it , I just let off and aborted . It's only after the sun goes down , only in Spokane, and normally after a pretty decent launch.

[mark6052]

I guess everybody has gotten used to racing on fly paper. I heard the same complaints when Jay was prepping the track with VHT. Sometimes the "groove" is not wall to wall. lol If you make hundreds of passes and have afew bad ones at nite; I guess you should race during daylite only? just kidding. Id really like to know at what TRACK temp the LC is going slick. If any of you have a temp gun start checking it and record the temps. I will get back to VP with the info.

[silver_echo]

I guess everybody has gotten used to racing on fly paper. I heard the same complaints when Jay was prepping the track with VHT. Sometimes the "groove" is not wall to wall. lol If you make hundreds of passes and have afew bad ones at nite; I guess you should race during daylite only? just kidding. Id really like to know at what TRACK temp the LC is going slick. If any of you have a temp gun start checking it and record the temps. I will get back to VP with the info.

this sounds like a potential solution(even if it might take a season to fix), but i cannot speak to traction, as i have not experienced the track with a car that has power.

[Steve]

I can check the track temp when it goes away.