Craig Budde at Haubstadt, 25 May 2008

Never been to Haub but i hear about how good the track prep and conditions are and now i see it by looking at the color of the surface. I never knew it was that dark?

I love the joint. And it is only a day's drive from my house. ALL DAY.

It is a big secret what components that Tom Helfrich puts into that surface every year. Sometimes I hear straw, gumbo, manure, etc. I think he has available to himself, a scientist that is an expert in moisture content for soil analysis. It is all over my head, but whatever he does, it definitely works.

:respect:

Hopefully someday i can make it to see the place. Gas City also has that darker colored surface but at times it can get dusty. Does that darker surface mean that it has little or no sand in it?

I would say in the 20 plus years that I have attended races there, that I have never been hit by a grain of sand from that surface. Other tracks that I have been to, I have felt as if I have just went thru a sandblaster, not here. Moderate dust will fly maybe once or twice a year, only during the dog days of summer (drought conditions), but even then it is bearable.


:applaud:

So is that basically how it goes with racing surfaces? Dark means little or no sand, and does that mean that Bloomington is all clay with nothing else mixed in?