CJfilms
07-09-2010, 11:40 AM
I know there has been plenty of controversy regarding track prep and wetness....I am going to highlight a KEY TOPIC in the "WHY"...
Why do we wet the track? Is it...
1 - To mess up Uncle Petey's Day and make him have to chisel the mud from his mustache?
2 - To make sure people wreck their cars?
3 - To prevent fast racing?
The answer to each of those and more is as follows...
1 - Petey likes to lick his lips anyways after a race...we're simply giving him a new flavor each time! ;)
2 - As for people wrecking their cars when the track is wet...take a look at several top finishing drivers...Timmy Pauch, Shawn Naftzinger, Howie Bott, Uncle Petey, Shon Elk, The Otts, Joe Kunkel, Chris Angstadt, the Hires (when their cars hold up, Pat has had no luck this season), Duane Eidem, Steve Haegele, and more! They preserve their cars while running the track in for the first 10 laps or so and then slowly pick up the pace as the track gets tacky...they finish up front or at the very least see checkers almost every race because they use their heads early on and don't smash the pedal until they smash the wall....or someone else...
3 - We don't want to prevent fast racing...enduros are meant to have a field of XX cars...preferably over 50, however with this lovely economy, the counts we get are going to have to suffice. With more cars comes traffic...more traffic will provide for naturally slower racing...when cars start pulling off and the speeds pick up, we don't wet the track to slow everyone up....
Do we wet the track to prevent dust in the stands? Yes...and no. Yes, the dust can get out of control, however if the wind is blowing right, the stands do not take a dust beating and we will not throw the truck out there if no one in the stands seems to be having a problem. Such was the case this past event...the stands were not getting pelted with dust and dirt.
So...that being the case...why did we throw a red flag and wet the track this past race?
It is as simple as this........WE CAN'T SEE YOU!
When the track becomes that dry and there are that many cars racing at high speeds, the amount of dust (more than just clumps of dirt, actual dust) that is kicked up makes it so hard for us to see...from the tower, from the corners and from the flag stand.
From the tower - it gets to the point that we can't make out the car numbers AND THEN we can hardly see the cars when they are in the turns...especially turns 3 & 4, which are high hazard areas. No one wants us to let someone else beat and bang on their car, but if we can't see it...that is going to be why we won't make a call against them.
From the flag stand - Matt is standing on top of the cars practically. I've been in that stand before and trust me it comes at you from ever angle...
From the corners - the corner flaggers are hit with the immediate dust and dirt that is kicked up from the track...they are on the front line and when it gets that bad, they can hardly see what's in front of them.
When the track conditions get to this point, it is beyond a preference...it is a SAFETY issue. We cannot see the cars, therefore if a car flips or is stuck sideways, we will not know about it until traffic starts to slow up to get around it....we have to hope at that point no one gets hit. The water truck came out ONCE during each of these past races....ONE EXTRA TIME.....merely to bring the track to a bearable condition and allow us to moderate the race. Otherwise, it becomes a crap shoot and we have to hope everyone will make it out alive.....and that is not going to happen.
As for motors....different story altogether, but still the same! When we had a moderately hot day last race (June 6th), we ran the Big Cars after a passing storm...we ran the track in firmly before throwing the green.....25% of the cars finished....people missed this race because of blown motors from the last race...... Whenever we start a race with a moderately wet track, it seems more cars finish. Doesn't this make a bit of sense and wouldn't you like for the odds that you will finish the race be higher?
Petey...I know you are going to bring this issue up....yes, proper track prep will make a difference. Kenny planned on turning the track over this race...however, thanks to this weather, the track has not had rain in over a month....their reservoir is nearly dry and with that being the case, he saw it fit to not use up the only supply of water in the AM if it was going to dry out that quickly anyways....the track itself is dry underneath and is not going to hold the water as it would if we were having normal rain showers this season.... On a good note though, Kenny wants to prep the track as you have described to me...we need rain first or else we won't even be able to prep the track to begin with....
Why do we wet the track? Is it...
1 - To mess up Uncle Petey's Day and make him have to chisel the mud from his mustache?
2 - To make sure people wreck their cars?
3 - To prevent fast racing?
The answer to each of those and more is as follows...
1 - Petey likes to lick his lips anyways after a race...we're simply giving him a new flavor each time! ;)
2 - As for people wrecking their cars when the track is wet...take a look at several top finishing drivers...Timmy Pauch, Shawn Naftzinger, Howie Bott, Uncle Petey, Shon Elk, The Otts, Joe Kunkel, Chris Angstadt, the Hires (when their cars hold up, Pat has had no luck this season), Duane Eidem, Steve Haegele, and more! They preserve their cars while running the track in for the first 10 laps or so and then slowly pick up the pace as the track gets tacky...they finish up front or at the very least see checkers almost every race because they use their heads early on and don't smash the pedal until they smash the wall....or someone else...
3 - We don't want to prevent fast racing...enduros are meant to have a field of XX cars...preferably over 50, however with this lovely economy, the counts we get are going to have to suffice. With more cars comes traffic...more traffic will provide for naturally slower racing...when cars start pulling off and the speeds pick up, we don't wet the track to slow everyone up....
Do we wet the track to prevent dust in the stands? Yes...and no. Yes, the dust can get out of control, however if the wind is blowing right, the stands do not take a dust beating and we will not throw the truck out there if no one in the stands seems to be having a problem. Such was the case this past event...the stands were not getting pelted with dust and dirt.
So...that being the case...why did we throw a red flag and wet the track this past race?
It is as simple as this........WE CAN'T SEE YOU!
When the track becomes that dry and there are that many cars racing at high speeds, the amount of dust (more than just clumps of dirt, actual dust) that is kicked up makes it so hard for us to see...from the tower, from the corners and from the flag stand.
From the tower - it gets to the point that we can't make out the car numbers AND THEN we can hardly see the cars when they are in the turns...especially turns 3 & 4, which are high hazard areas. No one wants us to let someone else beat and bang on their car, but if we can't see it...that is going to be why we won't make a call against them.
From the flag stand - Matt is standing on top of the cars practically. I've been in that stand before and trust me it comes at you from ever angle...
From the corners - the corner flaggers are hit with the immediate dust and dirt that is kicked up from the track...they are on the front line and when it gets that bad, they can hardly see what's in front of them.
When the track conditions get to this point, it is beyond a preference...it is a SAFETY issue. We cannot see the cars, therefore if a car flips or is stuck sideways, we will not know about it until traffic starts to slow up to get around it....we have to hope at that point no one gets hit. The water truck came out ONCE during each of these past races....ONE EXTRA TIME.....merely to bring the track to a bearable condition and allow us to moderate the race. Otherwise, it becomes a crap shoot and we have to hope everyone will make it out alive.....and that is not going to happen.
As for motors....different story altogether, but still the same! When we had a moderately hot day last race (June 6th), we ran the Big Cars after a passing storm...we ran the track in firmly before throwing the green.....25% of the cars finished....people missed this race because of blown motors from the last race...... Whenever we start a race with a moderately wet track, it seems more cars finish. Doesn't this make a bit of sense and wouldn't you like for the odds that you will finish the race be higher?
Petey...I know you are going to bring this issue up....yes, proper track prep will make a difference. Kenny planned on turning the track over this race...however, thanks to this weather, the track has not had rain in over a month....their reservoir is nearly dry and with that being the case, he saw it fit to not use up the only supply of water in the AM if it was going to dry out that quickly anyways....the track itself is dry underneath and is not going to hold the water as it would if we were having normal rain showers this season.... On a good note though, Kenny wants to prep the track as you have described to me...we need rain first or else we won't even be able to prep the track to begin with....