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

I've never to Port Royal.  I have watched a lot of races at Port Royal online in the last two years.  I have pretty much always enjoyed the racing I've seen and don't recall ever thinking to myself that the track prep seemed bad.  I come here and see endless, mindless talk about how bad the track prep is there.  So here is my question.  What makes it bad?  Give me something tangible and measurable that could be changed and improved.  Here is a sample of responses. Too much moisture on top of the track, not enough moisture on top?  Too much moisture in the track, not enough moisture in the track?  Too much sheepsfoot, not enough sheepsfoot?  Too smooth, too rough?  Too much moisture on the bottom, middle or top?  Too much cushion, not enough cushion?   Someone in the know, please tell me, in an intelligent manner, what is wrong with Port Royal's track prep.    Again, intelligent answers only please.

     I hope you'll accept this as an intelligent answer. There is only one poster on this messageboard who has a problem with the track prep. (2, if you count both his screen names.) That's it. No one else. Someone has a beef with Port Royal and can't let it go. That's all. The rest is pure trolling.

When you run the track in as hard as they do you need to add more water than what they have been adding during the summer months when they start before 6:30 each night.  Move the start time back to at least 7 for warmups during the summer months.

Dig the racetrack probably weekly for a while.  I am not talking about using a grader on it.  I am talking about using something that gets about 8 to 10 inches deep. Then when dug up add a lot water to it.  Then let it go for a day or so to let the water get down in the surface.  Then add more water to it before you run it back in.  Then use your grader and sheepsfoot to get your track back to smooth.  This track is normally as hard as blacktop every week.  When cars start to slip all over the place early in the night “warm ups and early in the heats” you know you are in for a very long evening of boredom.

Port has no idea what a cushion is over the last 4 to 5 years.  Every chance they get they run it in.  I say let the drivers move up the cushion as the racing goes on during the evening.  I would rather a car hit the cushion then bounce it off the fence a few times.

Port has never had too much moisture in their track unless it rains on race day.  It seems like they never have enough moister in the track.  They need more moisture all over the track in the summer months.  It gets like blacktop every night they race. They rarely have a low groove....so I would say that is where they would need more water than on the highside. But as previously stated the whole track needs more water.

As a matter of fact they had one of the best races I have seen in a while there this year.  Over half the field was in the middle to high 15 second bracket early in the night.  The feature that night was the best I have seen in a few years as they were back and forth with cars all over the track.  I have notes on that race and it is the furthest back anyone has won a feature from at Port this year which is the 8th starting spot.   I watched the feature on Flo.  It was the best that night but, don’t tell razor Steve he still thinks it was too wet that night.

When you run the track in as hard as they do you need to add more water than what they have been adding during the summer months when they start before 6:30 each night.  Move the start time back to at least 7 for warmups during the summer months.

Dig the racetrack probably weekly for a while.  I am not talking about using a grader on it.  I am talking about using something that gets about 8 to 10 inches deep. Then when dug up add a lot water to it.  Then let it go for a day or so to let the water get down in the surface.  Then add more water to it before you run it back in.  Then use your grader and sheepsfoot to get your track back to smooth.  This track is normally as hard as blacktop every week.  When cars start to slip all over the place early in the night “warm ups and early in the heats” you know you are in for a very long evening of boredom.

Port has no idea what a cushion is over the last 4 to 5 years.  Every chance they get they run it in.  I say let the drivers move up the cushion as the racing goes on during the evening.  I would rather a car hit the cushion then bounce it off the fence a few times.

Port has never had too much moisture in their track unless it rains on race day.  It seems like they never have enough moister in the track.  They need more moisture all over the track in the summer months.  It gets like blacktop every night they race. They rarely have a low groove....so I would say that is where they would need more water than on the highside. But as previously stated the whole track needs more water.

As a matter of fact they had one of the best races I have seen in a while there this year.  Over half the field was in the middle to high 15 second bracket early in the night.  The feature that night was the best I have seen in a few years as they were back and forth with cars all over the track.  I have notes on that race and it is the furthest back anyone has won a feature from at Port this year which is the 8th starting spot.   I watched the feature on Flo.  It was the best that night but, don’t tell razor Steve he still thinks it was too wet that night.

Man, one would think with your overwhelming expertise and no doubt decades of first hand experience at track prep, your skills would be in extremely high demand at every race track on the East Coast. Have none of them made you a satisfactory offer yet?

There is nothing wrong with it 95% of the time if you like racing with mulitple grooves.   If you watch races with a stopwatch like a drag racing fan you would have a problem with it, but sprint car fans love it. 

I've never to Port Royal.  I have watched a lot of races at Port Royal online in the last two years.  I have pretty much always enjoyed the racing I've seen and don't recall ever thinking to myself that the track prep seemed bad.  I come here and see endless, mindless talk about how bad the track prep is there.  So here is my question.  What makes it bad?  Give me something tangible and measurable that could be changed and improved.  Here is a sample of responses. Too much moisture on top of the track, not enough moisture on top?  Too much moisture in the track, not enough moisture in the track?  Too much sheepsfoot, not enough sheepsfoot?  Too smooth, too rough?  Too much moisture on the bottom, middle or top?  Too much cushion, not enough cushion?   Someone in the know, please tell me, in an intelligent manner, what is wrong with Port Royal's track prep.    Again, intelligent answers only please.

Because we have one idiot who has two user names who has nothing better to do than bitch and moan. Best just ignore his ignorant ass and enjoy what you enjoy. Screw that guy. 

When you run the track in as hard as they do you need to add more water than what they have been adding during the summer months when they start before 6:30 each night.  Move the start time back to at least 7 for warmups during the summer months.

Dig the racetrack probably weekly for a while.  I am not talking about using a grader on it.  I am talking about using something that gets about 8 to 10 inches deep. Then when dug up add a lot water to it.  Then let it go for a day or so to let the water get down in the surface.  Then add more water to it before you run it back in.  Then use your grader and sheepsfoot to get your track back to smooth.  This track is normally as hard as blacktop every week.  When cars start to slip all over the place early in the night “warm ups and early in the heats” you know you are in for a very long evening of boredom.

Port has no idea what a cushion is over the last 4 to 5 years.  Every chance they get they run it in.  I say let the drivers move up the cushion as the racing goes on during the evening.  I would rather a car hit the cushion then bounce it off the fence a few times.

Port has never had too much moisture in their track unless it rains on race day.  It seems like they never have enough moister in the track.  They need more moisture all over the track in the summer months.  It gets like blacktop every night they race. They rarely have a low groove....so I would say that is where they would need more water than on the highside. But as previously stated the whole track needs more water.

As a matter of fact they had one of the best races I have seen in a while there this year.  Over half the field was in the middle to high 15 second bracket early in the night.  The feature that night was the best I have seen in a few years as they were back and forth with cars all over the track.  I have notes on that race and it is the furthest back anyone has won a feature from at Port this year which is the 8th starting spot.   I watched the feature on Flo.  It was the best that night but, don’t tell razor Steve he still thinks it was too wet that night.

So I'm not one for conspiracy theories but hear me out on this.  Is it possible that winged/strawser is really Razer Steve.  I think it's a brilliant advertising strategy.  Go on a message board, make an ass out of yourself, make everyone hate you and then rag on the track that you secretly want to promote?  Kind of like the enemy of my enemy is my friend.  It's funny he knows a lot about a track that he "never attends" and knows just how to fix it.  And his biggest gripe is lap times but likes to throw in how nice the facility is.   I'm from the midwest and have no desire to go to Pennsylvania but if I was there and had a night or 2 with nothing to do, I would go to a race there just to see if it was as bad as people (or he) says it is.

I have to say Strawser. That is the most intelligent and coherent post I have ever read about track prep. You could be totally full of crap but most people just complain and don't actually talk about what needs to be done. I asked one time what type of science or technique goes into track prep and nobody really had an answer. It was interesting to hear somebody talk about the different ways to dig up the track and how to smooth it out. I think a lot more people would listen to you around here if you stuck to this type of post.

Hell...the world needs more of this. It might actually generate,curiosity, learning, and intelligent discussion.