Just read Larry Morgan's comments on CompPlus. What is the difference between prepping a track for fuel cars, pro stock and the alcohol classes? What should be done in between rounds to make it better for one or the other?

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From Charles - Larry Morgan's comments on CompPlus. What is the difference between prepping a track for fuel cars, pro stock and the alcohol classes? What should be done in between rounds to make it better for one or the other?
A couple of interesting questions! Track prep appears to be more witchcraft than rocket science. A friend who has been racing for more than 30 years did a lot of research on this. Variables as small as the type of tire carcass used on the Gannon (tractor that applies rubber by dragging used tires) can apparently make a huge difference. LVMS uses only drag slicks - a local raceway was apparently using what was available because . . . there is no standard!
A lot of attention is focused on the starting line before PS cars run, but not much is done downtrack other than sweeping and traction compound. Do the PS teams know what needs to be done differently? If so, have they gotten together to agree and presented this to NHRA?
Obviously, the Safety Safari preps the track for the fuel cars first - everything after that is a compromise. Would fans sit still for a lengthy change of track prep before every PS round - I doubt it. It certainly would screw up NHRA's desire to move through eliminations quickly on race day.
Does NHRA give a S$$$ ? I don't know. Jeff Wolf was roundly criticized for his very frank opinion that the wrong people are running NHRA. Was Larry saying the same thing? As usual, more questions that will probably never be answered.

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"The Counterfeiter"

Seems as though Larry isn't to happy with much of anything lately.

I wish someone would figure out how to keep the Pro Stocks from leaving balled spots on the starting line.

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www.zizzoracing.com

Tony - an EXCELLENT view on this! If the PS teams don't have a solution, how is NHRA supposed to fix the problem? Like many of us, I feel NHRA is being run by the wrong people. However - does Larry know how to fix the problem?
And if he does, is NHRA simply not listening?

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"The Counterfeiter"

I`m just wondering if this will inspire Larry to produce another t-shirt.
This time I`m getting one before the ban!

Sounds to me like NHRA wasn't given much to work with.. on top end anyways.... Alan Johnson said the rear tires only had about 50% contact with the crap on top end? Should there be some sort of standard for what is used to pave the track????

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Go Hight!!! Prock Rocket 2008 Style
Quickest to 1000' 4.00
Quickest to 1320' 4.63

In a variation of something said by Rodney Dangerfield:

"I thought I was seeing a top fuel round but I was actually watching a pro stock match."

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Tim Wilkerson: The REAL 2008 champion.
NY Giants: 11-1.
Visit my page on Youtube for eye candy, cars and racing clips!

Isn't this a double edged sword? If NHRA mandated perfect surfaces at every facility, wouldn't that take some of the advantages away from teams who learn to run on bad tracks? I always love watching those who match race anywhere to stay alive in this sport proving they can get down a marginal track. They often take out the "top shelf" front runners when conditions aren't all that great. For me that's a big part of this sport.

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"The Doctor"
www.wannaberacing.com

Not defending the sanctioning body,
but how do the record runs get explained?
SSR is the measuring stick no?

I'm curious how such a poorly prepared track can yield so many 6.50 passes? Does this mean the PS guys think the track was Great on Saturday but not sunday?

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Shift for Brains!!!!

Jason Line ran 6.55 so I guess the track wasn't too bad.

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Tim Wilkerson: The REAL 2008 champion.
NY Giants: 11-1.
Visit my page on Youtube for eye candy, cars and racing clips!

NHRA made the decision to return to this track (probably out of a desire to get back into this market) after several years. Did anyone from NHRA (who knew anything about drag racing) actually go to Richmond and look at the track surface?
Should there be standards for track surfaces, prep and facilities for racers and fans? Yes, but some of the tracks NHRA owns are CRAP.
One more time - the NHRA is being run by people with no racing experience who are only concerned with lining their pockets. Racers are running on tracks that are too short to safely stop, have worn out asphalt and offer miserable amenities for fans.
We have purchased the rights for one of 26 motorhome spots above turns 2,3 and 4 at Phoenix International Raceway for $6000 per year, which includes two parking spots next to the motorhome. We can bring in as many customers as we want without having to buy tickets and allow them access to a hospitality area, bathrooms with showers, a food court and merchandise area that are not open to the public. NASCAR takes in $76,000 per race to provide services to 26 customers (which does not include what will be spent in food, booze and merchandise).This is a priceless marketing tool that is not available in NHRA.
I would love to be able to take customers to an NHRA national event, but it involves buying very expensive tickets, parking problems and (at a lot of tracks) very bad food and bathroom facilities. We would be very happy to pay $3000 to park our motorhome in a spot that offered great views of the strip and had private amenities for our customers. NHRA - are you listening?

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"The Counterfeiter"

A little tough to blame this on track prep. No matter how much you polish, a piece of crap is still crap. This track is not fit fit to race donkeys on, say nothing about fuel cars. Hopefully they make them correct the problem beore next year, or move to a track that is fair for all. Route 66 might be a good choice fo this race. <G>

Reminds me of two others
"You can't polish a turd"
"You can't shine sh#t"
:

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"We marvel at our own magnificence"

The track was completely resurfaced last winter in response to the NHRA's requirement for returning to VMP. A lot of the complaining abut the track on TV was silly. Quite a few of the TF and Funny Car teams were spinning before they got half way down the concrete portion of the track (1st 1/8 mile).

I was there Friday. The real problem was the lack of sufficient equipment to clean up spills and resurface the track in a reasonable time. T Rizzo had an oil line come loose and oiled the track from behind the burnout box to about 300 feet. This took almost an hour to clean up. Several other spills took excessive time to clean. No wonder they couldn't do a proper track prep between classes or rounds.

Some day the NHRA management will realize they need to invest whatever it takes to provide a clean up system that can accomplish the job in 5-10 minutes no matter what happens. There would be and instant return on the investment as this would allow live TV which would greatly increase the viewership and the advertising revenue. Unfortunately the current management chooses to spend their time trying to copy the NASCAR playoff system.

BTW the TV viewership for the NASCAR playoffs is down from last year. Apparently the viewers understand what a phony system it is to determine a champion. The NHRA system will probably suffer a similar fate. If either organization wanted to have a meaningful playoff among a limited amount of teams then only those teams would be completing against each other as in other sports . If this is not practical for racing then scrap the whole deal.