[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

I am not sure I see the correlation between delay boxes and throtle stops and how their use has anything to do with a car that starts up in gear and the driver loses control of it!

There is none, you just attempted to see something that was not there. The comment about the driver backing over the dragster behind him was merely a part of the anecdote.

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

Todays cars are way faster and have way more HP then ever and the t-stops and timers allowed this to develop but it is not the only reason cars lose control.......

But to ignore this as a prime reason is to avoid addressing a major portion of the problem, especially given the original post was a complaint that directly addressed their power and throttle stops. When you apply 800 to 1000 HP or more to a coasting, unloaded car, 300' down track where there is less traction, if the track is not good, you're going to blow the tires off. If you have 800-900HP, and can run 9.90 or 10.90 at 150-160MPH, when your tires break loose in high gear, they're going to spin up to about 160MPH. If you aren't going straight, or the traction is not equal for both tires, you're going to hit the wall, the only question is left or right. It's a simple matter of physics. Ignoring simple physics will get you hurt.

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

Water under the track is percolating up to the surface and somehow the traction compound is making it worse is my thought on this. Seen it a lot of times in the last few years and I really don't know why it has gotten worse in the last few years.....

The problem in most cases is the fact that races end up being run on tracks that have been rained on for 1-3 days, and then get prepped in less than one. You simply cannot expect to consistently and successfully prep a track that has had every bit of the rubber washed off of it for 1-3 days, as well as having the oil forced up out of it, in anything less than a day or more. And if any rain falls on it again, during that prep or right after, expect the track to go away again. There are tracks where water comes up through the track, but that is not the problem everywhere, or even at most tracks.

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

All tracks send cars out on the track and use them as guinea pigs....Nothing new whatsoever and I can relate numerous events where track conditions were not right and we were directed out there anyway.

I have helped a number of people get started in racing....One thing I always preach......you are in charge of yourself and your car. If it looks unsafe out there and cars are not getting down the track.....don't make the run!!! It's your safety and your car and missing a run or a round is way better then crashing because the officials THOUGHT things were ok.....

Exactly.

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

Joe Sway is about the hardest working track owner you'll ever see and knows his track.....He explained to us earlier this year how he gets the track to hook and did exactly that when we had a tree pollen attack! I am really surprised he and his crew and Bob Lang and crew couldn't get the track to be safe......

I sure am glad I skipped this event!!!

I don't really see it as a big surprise. It has nothing to do with how hard Joe Sway or Bob Lang work, or how conscientious they are, and they are great people. It's simply a matter of what can and cannot be done. Heavy and constant rain will take the rubber off of a track, what little is left behind is a hindrance to traction, and the rain is going to bring up all of the oil that is in the track, and leave it right there on the surface. Once that happens, the only way to consistently and reliably get a good racing surface is to scrape and scrub, getting the old left over rubber and the oil off before you even begin to try to put down traction compound or drag rubber on it. If you don't, you end up with a smear of oil and bad rubber with traction compound on top of it.