Originally Posted by motorhead748:
When you say old track I hope you don't mean the old 1/4 mile. I wouldn't say it never took rubber but it never did any night I was there and that was quite a few nites. And it for sure didn't grind off 2,3,4 or 6 tires per nite. Give me the old track any day 10-1 over what's there now.
So whats the reason we went to some nights with under 500 fans with 35 car fields? It certainly wasn't because it was two groove all night Mel Johnson tacky the last 15 years it existed.
I never missed a race from about 85 to 2014 and caught about seven last year. while it may have ate tires several races, Thats the first I remember massive blow outs due to wear and it started about lap 17
The no rework was most certainly because of the cold and I've also seen the track go mostly all middle or top when it dried out before. I've seen huggy pole maybe three times since it was rebuilt
If you were there you knew how cold it was. How windy? I came home to a condo community where six stop signs are down, every building is missing shingles and some missing some siding and a cracked sliding glass door I've got to eat because a chair on the deck was thrown into it.. So fifteen underwhelming laps of a whole night that was for the most part awesome racing is the least of my problems.
As for he racers, I certainly understand the massive additional cost If you burn up a thousand in tires every night or even every weekend, After 25 weeks the tire bill is more than many weekly racers have in the car. Its no secret though, its in the USAC rule book there is a harder tire option, Which I've learned wasn't really a option unless a team had one already mounted up in the hauler. Still that tire would have made the end of the race.
Should it have been reworked yeah but I think all the fans would have been upset waiting 45 minutes extra, its a lose lose, If it was 70* doing it would have been a no brainer, He messed up, Maybe he should have cancelled in the first place? As others have said, we race more often than not and start on time. I remember last years Sprint Week where it rained off and on all day till about 430, we raced, several shows that it rained at some point in the night and we got it all in.
I for one and am glad they raced, mistakes were made but we have memories from it both good and bad. Six racers that played it smart got decent finishes. DD won for the 24 year straight in USAC National and I got to spend time with family at a race track.
It's not all doom and gloom people. A bad night at the track *Which it wasn't at all for me* is better than a night at home watching the same old same old or a night at work ANY DAY, ANY YEAR.
Have fun.
Chuck