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

Eldora got a lot of deserved criticism for the track prep in 2023 for the Crown Jewels and rightly so. The Dunkin's are sprint car institutions but have they past their prime? Only one night did they hit it out of the park (Thursday), one night was essentially a disadvantage for those that raced (Wednesday) and Friday and Saturday weren't the best. Are we giving them a pass because it's Knoxville? 

To say "because it's Knoxville" is direspecting them. It would be better to say they get a pass because they have EARNED it. 

Better question: Have they earned it?

I'm certainly not the right person to make that call. I've been to the Nationals once. It was disappointing the year I went watching the track rubber up. Donny had the better car that year, but Larson won because it had turned into a one lane around the bottom. I'm told that's been super rare at Knoxville. I've watched plenty of Knoxville feartures on DirTVision. I don't remember seeing that happen even one other time. 

The people I respect in the business would tell me that the folks at Knoxville have earned a pass when it comes to track prep. Just like random guys throwing around opinions and attitudes on the Internet respect and reputation are earned.  

Reputation not withstanding, the track sucked every night but Thursday. Racers and fans deserved better. To

It's hard to get a 1/2 mile track racey, especially with that many cars. There's a fine line between getting it too wet that it doesn't widen out and slick off enough, and not wet enough where the top doesn't hold up all night or it becomes rubber down. I wouldn't say Saturday sucked. There was plenty of passing behind Larson.

A

You ever think the cooler than normal temps had something to do with the track. Track prep at knoxville is pretty solid year after year and all the sudden everyone thinks they suck. Dumbasses.

Also to add to this. Rarely does a perfectly prepped track result in good racing because everybody is fast. Tracks that get slick with some character make for good racing. Tricky cushions or a narrow bottom groove. Hammer down heavy tracks always result in poor racing.

It is also worth noting the new dirt they put on it this year is not the same as the old dirt. They can not get the dirt from the same place as before. The Dunkins have admitted it has been a new learning curve with the new dirt. I guess we will see how long of a curve it will be.

This!    I can't remember ever being that cold at the Nationals.   I've been going to the Nationals for over 10 years.   Maybe one time in the past I went back to my car and got a jacket.    I actually wore the jacket on Thursday and Friday and I think it was mid 50s.    

Only 2nd good track this year 

As stated before the new dirt layed down this year was not as good as they are used to.  Old source of dirt is no longer available.  I think they will hunt for better dirt for next year.  Track prep is a tough job.  You need to out guess the temp, humidity abd wind.  Give them a break, it was not a dust bowl.

Nope

It's a catch 22.

You water the piss out of it you get a heavy hammer down narrow track early on limiting the possibilities of an alphabet soup run.

You back off on the heavy watering you run the risk of taking rubber during the 50 lap feature. 

You re-work the track in the middle of the program you have a late night. 

I wouldn't want to be the track prep guy. 

All of us that prepare dirt tracks know that the weather, and it's conditions, will be the one in charge of what happens to a dirt race track during an evening of racing. Hopefully a bit of critical thinking will help the understanding.

When the weather is sunny, in the 70s, some wind, and most importantly, no dew point (meaning no moisture in the air) the track is going to dry out. The moisture in the track leaves quicker because the air is dry and the moisture in the track escapes much faster. When the temperature is in the 90s with high dew points (meaning a lot of moisture in the air) the track will not dry as quickly as the moisture in the track has no place to escape to because of all the moisture in the air.

Without the Duncans, their great experience and equipment, the track during this Nationals could have been a disaster! Frankly, they are very underated!! Maybe next year when the weather will be most likely be back to normal with 90s and high dew points, you can all enjoy the Nationals for what it is and not question something you know nothing about. 

Agree, track prep is very difficult due to all the external factors that exist.  Places like Knoxville & Port Royal do a great job getting it right with the conditions they are presented with.

Really? Not every race or night is going to be a barn-burner. Wednesday is always narrower since they try to get as much water into the track as they can so it holds up better for the week. There was a nice interview with Chris about working the track for Nationals. It's amazing the things they take into consideration such as temperatures, sun/overcast, humidity, wind and additional precip. 

Every night had a top and bottom groove with the middle usually coming in during feature time. It was never rubber down on the bottom or a high speed train around the top. It's not always the track prep to blame when don't have side by side action, 3 wide or sliders all night. There were several guys that were able to pass some cars so they evidently had a good set up. Kudos to the Dunkin crew for busting their butts for us. 

New dirt is what I am going with. Dunkin's have the highest batting average by a wide margin. Nobody or no other track compares. This year was a miss, but it wasnt that bad or totally gorss. Just not what we have become accustomed to recently. I for one am a person that enjoys the sumemr heat and I missed the 90 degree days. I like it filthy hot when I go to the Nats

If you think you can do better, apply for the job!

I'm glad someone else brought up the weather.  On our way out to Knoxville on Wednesday, my son and I were discussing the temps.  We both agreed that no matter what they did, it was going to be narrow and tough to pass especially on Wednesday night.  We both agreed Thursday is almost always better, with higher point totals, and more transfers than Wednesday night.  It stayed so cool the whole week, the track had no chance to come in like a normal Nationals.  Strangely enough, I was SHOCKED to see the racing we did get.  There was actually some pretty good movements in the field during the features each night.  Why is this so obvious to me and hard to comprehend for some?  I'm far from a genius.  Look at the past Nats that were cool OR wet.  The track just does not widen.  I actually thought they did really well and there was a lot of cars able to advance through the fields.  

What did I miss?  

Another thing that should be brought up is the fact that they did try something each day due to the cooler temps. That is one thing that people do not look at because had they not prepped it the way they did then the track may have been even narrower than what it was and the racing could have been worse. Saturday they kept the cars off the track until after 7pm as well and did prep longer. Race time temps were WAY colder than normal. I think it was in the 50's  each night besides Saturday when it was in the 60s. The hoodie sales this past week were probably up 400% vs previous years. And really if you take out the Larson factor and how it good he is, you wouldve had Gio & Day racing for the win right at the end for the win and this discussion does not happen at all. You would have had a close finish and close finish for win to avg sprint car fan = good track prep. 1 driver dominating = bad track prep and format needs to be changed. In reality for the people that were there you can see how close the racing is throughout the field. 

I agree Knoxville does do a great job at track prep.

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

Brad, Brad, Brad