Summit Motor Sports Park Up-Date

[Barney B]

TRACK SURFACE TO BE REBUILT
In true Norwalk tradition a decision was made this afternoon to rebuild our racing surface. As always our concern for excellence and safety led us to this conclusion. The track will be repaved from the 1/8th mile to the 1/4 mile. At the same time drainage will be installed down the center of the track as well as on the sides to ensure the track will drain effectively. We made this choice after several days of intensely researching many alternatives. In the end, the right thing to do is to replace the asphalt; this will both fix the problem and ensure a safe and competitive racing surface.

BB

[S/G 386N]

Is it just me, or does the burnout box in the right lane slope to the right? I think they need to work on that as well. Every time I'd do a burnout, it would kick the rear out to the right.

[CBS]

I bet the burnout box is the least of their worries...Baders are spending a bunch of money....again...can't have what happened last year happen again....you've got to hand it to them....no messing around...new track and drain tile....so it doesn't happen again...

thanks double B for the update....

[S/G 386N]

Originally Posted by CBS

I bet the burnout box is the least of their worries...Baders are spending a bunch of money....again...can't have what happened last year happen again....you've got to hand it to them....no messing around...new track and drain tile....so it doesn't happen again...

thanks double B for the update....

What happened last year? Only thing I remember is trailers getting stuck in the pits.

[B CHILLIK]

they had a nitro coupe wreck this sunday at super chevy,i think this is leading to all of this...

[SGSCSG]

Originally Posted by S/G 386N

What happened last year? Only thing I remember is trailers getting stuck in the pits.

Last year everybody got to sit there all day on a beautiful Friday with no racing going on because water kept coming up out of the track. They did finish the first session of Pro Stock bike even after Steve Johnson complained about the amount of water he hit past the finish line. The rest of the day was "Pro Stock to the lanes" followed by a 45 minute pause and then "It is going to be a while. Pro Stockers, you can go back to your trailers if you want, but you better come up faster the next time." Repeat those lines once every 1.5 hours or so and add in a "We really mean it this time!" every once in a while and you've got a pretty good idea what it felt like to be there.

I find it humorous that the track is trying to claim this last minute repaving as a positive. If "true Norwalk tradition" is to rectify a problem that should have been fixed a year ago only after somebody crashes 1.5 weeks before a National event, I think I'd prefer someone else's tradition. It will be interesting to see if the fresh pavement will hold up to Pro sessions.

I sure hope the rain calms down there this week so everybody doesn't have to park in the Walmart parking lot again.



Here are a couple of old articles from Competition Plus
TEAM EFFORT - Business competitors came together on Friday at Summit Motorsports Park to ensure the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals would continue without further issue for the remainder of the weekend.

Equipment on display in the Krystowski Tractor Sales/Kubota and CAT midway sites was put into action when water began to weep up through cracks in the asphalt just past the finish line. Feed by 13 inches of rain in the week prior to the event, a day of sunshine heated the asphalt surface to 127 degrees turning the facility into a virtual coffee pot. As the asphalt warms water is drawn to the surface and out through cracks.

Frank Manzo, Top Alcohol Funny Car driver, answer the call throughout the garage for individuals capable of operating the machine commandeered from Kubota and CAT. Manzo, an underground utility contractor from Morganville, N.J., holds both the low E.T., and MPH records in TAFC at Summit Motorsports Park.

Manzo and other equipment operators dug ditches three feet deep along the outer wall on both sides of the track which were connected to larger storm water ditches. Additionally, slices were made in the racetrack to facilitate the drainage of water into the freshly dug ditches.

By 3:00 am Saturday morning the flow of water being directed away from the racing surface had finally slowed, but water was still trickling out some three hours later. However, the measures proved effective when a Saturday afternoon deluge did not cause additional weeping problems.


DEDICATED TO SAFETY - Friday’s lone Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying session provided an instance when Steve Johnson’s clout as former spokesperson for the class would have come in handy.

“There was water on the track,” Johnson confirmed.

Johnson said he told race officials in the shutdown area of the unsafe condition and they failed to rectify the situation immediately. In fact, the complete session was run.

“I don’t know their procedures but I felt there was an issue with some water,” Johnson added. “At first, I thought maybe I might have been wrong, but when I went to fuel and scales, I went over and saw they were definitely drying the track.”

Chris Rivas said he saw the water, but only after he’d made a 7.088, 186.61 pass.

“I didn’t see it until after I had made my run,” Rivas said. “I had noticed another ride checking the racing surface after I had made my run.”

Rivas confirmed that he rode his scooter back to the shutdown area and clearly saw puddles of water were present.

“They should have stopped that session,” Rivas admitted. “Once they saw traces of water. What happens is when you are on a bike and I know Pro Stock cars are the same, you’re so out of control on the top end anyway, if there’s one little thing you try to do to maneuver the bike and if you throw in even the least little droplet of water, you can lose control. This is such a hardcore issue that it needs to be addressed for sure.”

“I’m very confident in my driving skills and I will drive through fire,” Johnson explained. “I just always want to make sure everyone is aware of safety. If there’s an issue on the track, we need to look at it as soon as possible. Sometimes I feel like they react real quick and fast that it’s shocking. Other times I think we could be more aggressive in our thought processes.

“I don’t know what their thought process was yesterday because I wasn’t down there the whole time. All I know is that was going 185 miles per hour; shut down and saw water on the track. I told them right away that I felt there was water on the track. I don’t know what they saw but they kept running.

“I don’t if what I said inspired them to stop running; all I knew is that I didn’t want to go putting on brakes in water.”

By notifying NHRA race officials, Johnson fulfilled his obligation as a competitor. Drivers, car owners and crew members sign a document when they receive their hard cards from NHRA which obligates them to notify NHRA officials of any unsafe condition. What the officials do with the information, while if affects the competitors, is no longer within their control.

[Chris Williams]

Originally Posted by SGSCSG

I find it humorous that the track is trying to claim this last minute repaving as a positive. If "true Norwalk tradition" is to rectify a problem that should have been fixed a year ago only after somebody crashes 1.5 weeks before a National event, I think I'd prefer someone else's tradition.

I have to admit that when I read this article my first reaction was "you mean they didn't do that immediately after last year's event?!" It's really hard to understand why a panic reaction to fix something with 4 days to go before the biggest event of the year is anything but a fire drill.

Love the Baders, the ice cream, yadda yadda. Wasted much of my youth in the stands at Norwalk. But this is just silly...

[Gerber3533]

C'mon guys. Give 'em a break,.. At least their doing something about the problem, and not just turning the other cheek and hope it goes away. Like CBS said, they are spending a lot of money, again, but at least it's towards bettering the track... And it can't get any worse... So spare 'em a little bit of the torment.

[buzzinhalfdozen]

They're laying asphalt now. Barring any hiccups there should be no issues. Joe