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Seadog · 2/26/10, 9:15 AM

I was around in the 50's, 60's and 70's. And you are right Dennis. It was not a problem back then nearly as much.

But there are several reasons for it.

1. Some tracks either oiled the dirt or used calcium chloride. It helped quite a bit. Tougher environmental laws now forbid doing that.

2. AAA or USAC shows had maybe 15 - 20 cars at a race with pretty NARROW tires. Qualifying, dash, heats and a 12 car feature. And that was it. No 4 or 5 support class stuff.

That made for some pretty racy dirt surfaces even in the daytime. One would ocassionaly get dry/slick, but not that often.

2/26/10, 9:15 AM	#11 Re: Usac & imca dirt track racing 50 60 70s
Seadog Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 2,136	I was around in the 50's, 60's and 70's. And you are right Dennis. It was not a problem back then nearly as much. But there are several reasons for it. 1. Some tracks either oiled the dirt or used calcium chloride. It helped quite a bit. Tougher environmental laws now forbid doing that. 2. AAA or USAC shows had maybe 15 - 20 cars at a race with pretty NARROW tires. Qualifying, dash, heats and a 12 car feature. And that was it. No 4 or 5 support class stuff. That made for some pretty racy dirt surfaces even in the daytime. One would ocassionaly get dry/slick, but not that often.