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

"hot weather".... no kidding

It dawned on me sitting at Lincoln, broiling, with the sun in my eyes, that they should reverse pits & stands (not that it will ever happen) The shade from that big line of trees by the haulers looked SO inviting....

I'm one of the few who never wears a baseball cap, but bought one (Lance!) just to keep the sun out of my eyes (& i was wearing shades!)

Monday at Lincoln and the 2016 Summer Nationals (night 2) at the Grove were the two hottest shows I've ever been at.  I stopped at Rutter's in York on the way home from Lincoln at about midnight and it still said 89 degrees. 

That was a scorcher for sure. Definitely one of the hottest I've ever attended. I love summer time weather but I'll admit, it was a little over the line for me. Thankfully that thunderstorm moved close enough to shade the sun later in the evening but stayed far enough away not to cause a problem. I remember a speedweek show at Silver Spring (almost certain it was either 1998 or 99) that was just as bad if not worse. If I remember correctly, the temperature was 101 degrees. That's the hottest race I can remember attending. 

I am going to expose myself as an old man here. But I remember a 50-lap Fourth of July Modified race with my father at the old Nazareth National (Pa.) Mile in which about a half a dozen drivers pulled in because of the heat.

Port Royal is my home track. Always will be. I've been going there since I was 2 years old and up until recently, I rarely missed a 410 show there. The current promoter and his team have done an outstanding job in turning the facility around. Just about everything from the lights to the foodstands have been revamped and updated. Track prep is where they lose me personally. It's usually dry as a bone and slick unless it rains (like it did this past Wednesday) and I'm not a fan of that. They also absolutely refuse to leave a nice cushion build. If it starts to build one, they will be on the track with trucks beating it to a pulp as soon as they get a chance. Even when the track is dry and the cushion is already on the fence, they'll still go out and kill it. I'm a fan of sprint cars getting a little bit of bite, not floating through the corners like they're floating on air running half speed. That said, Port is still a great place to catch a race and I still enjoy going there despite all that. I just don't go as much as I used to. I spend a lot more time at Lincoln on Saturday nights than I used to even though Port is much closer to me. Some of the Port Royal faithful, as dsc1600 said, really like to exaggerate how good Port is and even the announcer at Port often uses victory lane interviews to try and get the drivers to give them compliments. It's a good track no doubt but some people put it on a pedestal above all others and that is simply inaccurate. 

Facility Is one of the best.

Track prep not that good.

I played some football and lacrosse games on the artificial turf that were ridiculously hot as well (well over 100 degrees), but you were doing something.... so it didn't bother me at all.  I actually liked playing in the heat.  We get to see who's in shape and who isn't, haha.

At Lincoln I just sat there and fried like a piece of chicken in a roaster, thinking in jest, "I drove about two hours to get here and paid money to feel sweat coming out of pores I didn't even know I had. After I've worked in it during the day. What the hell is wrong with me?"

But hey, the racing made it worth it.