Originally Posted by openwheelfan1:
I happened to run in to Bill Rose near the food trucks last night after USAC Sprints qualifying. I know Bill casually from living near him in Plainfield IN for years. After speaking for a minute, he said that he hoped people would forgive him if it got a little dusty. He then said they had put 35 truckloads of water on the track since approx. 2 PM, and it still probably wasn’t enough. I sure hope he didn’t have to pay the water bill!
Dusty is normal for THAT.
Halfway between Springfield & DuQuoin, and Gilbert AZ
I guess I've been up there about 15 times. Only once was it so bad I honestly couldn't see anything except four to the flagstand. As long as they stay on top of it. It's not too bad and the racings awesome.
The Armco should make (MOST) of them out of the park rides and flipping into concrete a thing of the past.
Originally Posted by oppweld:
Thanks to Bill Rose THAT is alive and well. Is it perfect yet? no but few track are. All his efforts are greatly appreciated.
As long as the Fair Board is in control of the track, it will never be perfect. The Fair Board wants to squeeze every last dollar they can out of the track w/o spending significant dollars on it. The Armco installed by the previous promotional group isn't my favorite thing (yes, I'm old and more of a traditionalist!) but I certainly see how it makes for a safer racetrack, but the promotional team purchased and installed it with the Fair Board's blessing. And why wouldn't the Fair Board bless it? it improved the value of their asset and they didn't have to pay for it!
I do wish Bill the best and hope he gets to promote there again next year. I do hope they replace or upgrade the PA system so that MAYBE you can hear the interviews after the heat races. And I HOPE they open other gates of the covered grandstand at the end of the race so we aren't all trying to get out the one open gate!!
Originally Posted by openwheelfan1:
As long as the Fair Board is in control of the track, it will never be perfect. The Fair Board wants to squeeze every last dollar they can out of the track w/o spending significant dollars on it. The Armco installed by the previous promotional group isn't my favorite thing (yes, I'm old and more of a traditionalist!) but I certainly see how it makes for a safer racetrack, but the promotional team purchased and installed it with the Fair Board's blessing. And why wouldn't the Fair Board bless it? it improved the value of their asset and they didn't have to pay for it!
I do wish Bill the best and hope he gets to promote there again next year. I do hope they replace or upgrade the PA system so that MAYBE you can hear the interviews after the heat races. And I HOPE they open other gates of the covered grandstand at the end of the race so we aren't all trying to get out the one open gate!!
Only 1 covered grandstand gate was open at the Hulman Classic in May. That needs to be corrected. Still a learning process for Bill and his crew.
The previous promoters did not pay for the improvements they just gave the bill to the fair board and then they had to renegotiate the original contract.
The track prep was good enough in my opinion. I think Track Enterprises was using calcium chloride or something like it to keep dust down but that costs money. It was a tricky track to drive which made for highly entertaining racing. As far as improvements, the PA needs to be a little louder like it used to be and it would be fine. Bloomington’s is worse. I’d rather see a 3 tier guardrail in the corners with a catch fence above and 2 tiers down the backstretch and paint it red, white and blue. That would look awesome. Replace jersey barriers with Armco on the inside of the straights too but add a fence on inside of front stretch to prevent the near disaster we witnessed. Car count was ok and racing was great! The feature was really intense, I’ve never seen them run so high in turn four. I only wish they raced there more!!
