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

Rolling Wheels raceway in NY officially became the fastest dirt track in the world last night. New WoO all time record. Over 145mph ave lap. Was an amazing site to see.

But the racing surface is not 100% dirt. It has an additive to it to make it non dusty & retain moisture

Go to Paul McMahan Racing on Facebook for  a video of the qualifying laps.

Yes this is true. The track has silicone pellets in it that helps the track retain moisture. Still an awesome lap.

What a difference a week makes...DNQ at the "slowest half mile" last Sunday...

it appears the driver did a good job

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

I don't think rolling wheels is actually 5/8ths but it's definitely 1/2th at least. 15.4 is hauling. 

Contrast that with the go-kart track offered by the worlds slowest half mile last week, where Stevie flew around there at a 18.4 clip. Very interesting....

Even if you put an asterisks by the lap, he still owns the 2nd fastest lap at Volushia County.

How does a 15.461 equate to 145mph on a 1/2 mile track? My guess is they used .620mi on the transponder equipment (146mph) instead of the .51 it actually is in the middle of the track. My fuzzy math shows a 120mph lap if he hugged the pole...

Your math is correct.....a 15 second lap on a 1/2 mile track equates to 120 mph....simple math based on 60 mph. Why is it the WoO always has to stretch things to impress? It's not enough the announcer does it all too often with his race coverage, now the officials are joining in. 145 mph is laughable!

Rolling Wheels is for sure bigger than 1/2 mile

Bullshit!  Do the math.  Measuring the track on Google maps, if you drove around the extreme outside edge of the racing surface (virtually impossible) the distance would be about 2995 feet.  A 15.461 lap on a 2995 foot track works out to 132 miles per hour.  Based on a guess of where the groove appears to be (2803 feet) you get 124 miles per hour.  This ain't *professional* wrestling.  Quit making the sport we love look stupid.

An average lap speed of 145mph would equate to a straightaway speed nearing 170mph........Damien Gardner and Co had a tough time hitting 200mph in a specialty built car in ideal conditions in a straight line. So yeah, I'm calling BS on this...

Rolling wheels is much larger than a half mile. There are a few true half miles in my (Can Am, Canandaigua) and Rolling Wheels is bigger than both.

    Yes, it's bigger than a half mile track, IF you use Google Maps to measure it, the groove line works out to about 2803 feet.  If you measure it at the very outside edge of the racing surface, it works out to about 2995 feet.  That's about a 9/16 mile track.  Either way, using math with that size of track (using either distance number) and the lap time does not give you an average speed over 132 miles an hour.  

Rolling Wheels is usually listed as a 5/8 nile. I am sure that is where the average speed came from. But no way is it faster than the Syracuse Mile. RIP.

Rolling Wheels isn't a dirt track? Where do some of you people come up with this stuff on this board?

Google Maps and Earth are not reliable for measuring, the photos are not scaled properly to ground distances. The only way to know is by getting in a car and driving around it or having it surveyed.

DA

This has always bothered me about sprint car "speed records".  Every other racing sanction in the world measures the tracks down to the hundredth of a mile, at least, some to the thousandth, but sprint car racing just decides the track is whatever somebody calls it and that's that.  It's easy enough to do on google earth.  Eldora and Volusia are both examples of this, both measure closer to .40 than .50 (.43-.44 if memory serves me last time I measured), but everyone thinks their so much faster.  Well of course the times are faster, the tracks shorter.  The only half mile in the country I think I actually measured at 0.50 is Knoxville.  All of the PA 1/2 miles are a few hundredths over 0.50, I got the same numbers BRR posts in his signature.  Williams Grove is a slower half mile because the turns are tighter, you have to slow down.  From what the local engine builders have said, the Grove is more of a power track than the faster half miles, you can't just put a top end high HP screamer in and keep up momentum, they have to pull from down low out of the corner to get to the bridge, before they can start singing past it.  

I've never had a problem matching google earth to exact distances, I use it to measure trails I plan on biking all the time, and after miles of riding my GPS reading is within 1-2%.  

For the longest time I was derided by he usual suspects for measuring Eldora with wheel to find the "distance" of the the mean groove was roughly 4/10s of a mile...until some fella who was familiar with google earth came along and produced the SAME distances I measure for e low ang high grooves that cars actually ran at that years kings Royal.

and to this day the WoO still claims it as a half mile...and reports inflated speeds to back up their claim...when I know damn well we would have had to be out in the grass the whole way around the track to get that distance.

soo poo poo google earth all you want...until Tony blows out the concrete wall and widens the track to FIND AN EXTRA 350-400 feet, Eldora is now and always will be .43 miles AS STATED IN MY SIGNATURE BELOW.

the speeds show in the siganture were measure with a radar gun at the entry of the turn named...T3 = turn 3 entry for those of you sleeping under the turnip truck.

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

I have found Google Maps to be off slightly...Many times....I've found it to be accurate many times as well...

I've measured Hiking Trails, Ski trails, ect....While it's normally "close"...Its not 100% accurate everytime....