As one who attended all the ISW races and was generally there pretty early in the day, I will say that ALL the promoters were out watering the track and working on it on race day. Before hotlaps each night I venture onto the track with a screwdriver and probe the track to see how tightly it is packed and how deep it is watered.

I can state that some of the ISW tracks were well watered but so tightly packed that they blew off the top layer of moisture and became hard, smooth and, yes, dusty pretty quickly. Other tracks which were not compacted quite as tightly were less smooth but remained relatively dust free. If the track surface is too tightly packed it does not matter how much water you put on it or how often you rework it the cars will blow off the top layer and it will be just as dusty in a number of laps.

Throw in the type of clay/dirt characteristics that make up the track surface and the promoter will never be able to prepare a smooth, dust minimizing track on which to race.

As a competitor I absolutely hate when the promoter reworks the track during the event. I make a SWAG for the feature setup based upon what the track conditions were in the last event I raced. I then watch all the intervening events to see how and at what rate the track is changing. When a track is reworked most of that goes right out the window and the mechanic is left to guess about the feature setup.

Perhaps it was the direction the wind was blowing but I thought that Bloomington, Kokomo and Lawrenceburg had some of more dust free surfaces. I know they reworked the track right before the feature at Haubstadt but it was very dusty in the pit stands and visibility was not good. Kamp and Gas City both had their problems.

Personally I would like to see a race on a slightly rough, relatively dust free track than a bone smooth dust bowl. Mot importantly I would like to put on a good race so the paying customer has an enjoyable evening and gets their money’s worth!!

JMO

Rob Hoffman