Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

This picture was on Twitter tonight from a team at Knoxville. What exactly is going on here?

Wrapping it helps keep the tire in good condition. Oils in the rubber will dry out and can actually harden the compound.  They do this some after they grind them before a race and also if they aren't used for a few days.  Lots of Go Kart and Quarter Midget guys do this.

I always assumed they came like that, and as you said, they keep them wrapped up to hold in moisture. The dirt LM guys have them still wrapped on their pit carts often, from what I've seen. 

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I've heard some say that if you treat it before wrapping it that the tire wears a lot faster and traction is lost. 

i think the jury may still be out on this one. keeps them looking at that instead at other things you may be doing though! Lol

You guys are all mixed up...

Donald Trump's hair got caught in a big right rear....

When done properly with the right preping fluid, tires will wear better and become more flexible, conforming to the track surface for better adhesion.

Many types of racing allow tire prep and many racers in types of racing that don't allow it are doing it.

There are those out there that don't know what they are doing and don't know what to use that are just ruining good tires though.

I think someone in the LMR 2 team was doing a little fishing, and I think they got a bite!

I think they seared the entire outside of the tire over a hot grill.  Wrapping it helps keep the juices in.  They will likely slow cook it for 3-5 hours until reaching proper temp. of 165 degrees.  I prefer using bacon and foil, but some say a good, heat resistant plastic wrap works as well.  Did they mention what type of rub they used?  

I've always thought this board would be so much better if each user had a ranking of open wheel knowledge.  Clearly, this person has never bought a race car tire (and seemingly never even been in the pits).  They would probably rate a 0 or 1 out of 10 on knowledge of the sport.  Other readers could then digest each persons posts giving it the due amount of significance it warrants based on their ranking.

Actually just wrapping the tire in plastic wrap to keep the natural chemicals it was manufactured with in it from evaporating, and storing the tire in a cool dry place out of the sun goes a long way. Also using the tire as soon as you can after it has been manufatured.

The more the natural chemicals evaporate and the more the tire is exposed to air and sun, the less flexibile the tire will become.

I think everyone would like to know what type of rub they used.  

I honestly do not think they are doing anything to their tires because there is way too much to lose if they got caught. I do think they are just having a bit of fun with everyone. 

Looks like a tire in Jamie Balls pit.  He is the only one that wraps his tires that I have seen at Knoxville.

They have been caught cheating once before...

Rubber never stops curing out. The durometer readings will continue to rise. Keeping it cold or cool will also slow the process. 

the wrapping is also used to keep new dirt out of the tire so it wont soak up the oils in the tire, alot of late model guys grind the tire then wrap it. now with that said why the tire appears to be mounted up on a rotisary type bar, that would be a good question for the person that put the prep in the tire.

Just a good way to store new or slightly used tires  during the off season.......we do it every year.....FWIW

Perhaps it was just ground or siped and they spun the plastic on while it was still easy to spin.

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My question is if they are doing it to keep the tires "fresh" and not allow them to degrade due to exposure, why do they not come from Hoosier this way? I haven't paid attention lately but normally they are just laying in the tire truck without wrap, or laying out front in the dirt. My opinion on this is monkey see, monkey do. I would think if this was a big issue Hoosier would sell them sealed.

That is a tire mount/ balancer, inside a trailer that is used for cutting, siping, or grinding tires. Also used for balancing tires. That is not a rotisserie. A bunch of teams will actually cut, or grind a tire down, then wrap it to keep dust and dirt off of it, until it is time to race. Way more common on the late model side, and even more common on the pavement. 

i agree with all that was said, and after thinking about it.  with a sprint car wheel it is center mount, and lm, we have five studs. on a side note do sprint car guys balance there tires, only time we did in late models, were when we went to eldora. with that we only had 3 compounds to use, as opposed to open tire races were we had around 26 different compound choices.