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Pro Truck on Dirt?


Nathan

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My favorite class at CTS was the pro trucks! My question or idea is have any of the pro trucks thought about taking them to dirt? I would love to see them on dirt. Maybe if enough drivers/owners get together and have a good truck count one of the dirt tracks around here will give them a place to race. I figured I37 or cottonbowl as both are centrally located with CTS. Maybe Joe and heather at 281 speedway may consider it. Just a thought to see if there would be interest.

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The trouble is that most of the trucks have gone to very high rebound shocks that hold the nose down flush to the track. The geometry is set differently since there is little movement of the front end up and down due to the tie down shocks.

 

In the good old days, not many changes were needed to put a Pro Truck on dirt. Maybe take of the sway bar and make a few front end adjustments. They did well as long as the track went dry-slick which was more like a greasy asphalt track. They did have a lot of trouble on sloppy or tacky tracks though, where "side bite" as more important.

 

Nick

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The trouble is that most of the trucks have gone to very high rebound shocks that hold the nose down flush to the track. The geometry is set differently since there is little movement of the front end up and down due to the tie down shocks.

 

In the good old days, not many changes were needed to put a Pro Truck on dirt. Maybe take of the sway bar and make a few front end adjustments. They did well as long as the track went dry-slick which was more like a greasy asphalt track. They did have a lot of trouble on sloppy or tacky tracks though, where "side bite" as more important.

 

Nick

That may be true, but since there are no asphalt tracks around, the changes wouldn't have to go back and forth. The trucks could be made "dirt ready", and kept that way. I think it would be an interesting class. Right now, dirt tracks are running 3 or 4 variations of "Hobby Stocks", and limited modifieds. A little something different would be a welcome change in my opinion.

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Absolutely, Chipper.

 

But I suspect that as long as there is hope that one of the asphalt tracks will open at some point, the big investment in shocks and rebuilt front ends will probably make it difficult for some teams. And I think that even if they have to drive to the SE to race, some will protect their investment by hauling far, far away.

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Absolutely, Chipper.

 

But I suspect that as long as there is hope that one of the asphalt tracks will open at some point, the big investment in shocks and rebuilt front ends will probably make it difficult for some teams. And I think that even if they have to drive to the SE to race, some will protect their investment by hauling far, far away.

No doubt, Nick. It's a shame that a state as big as Texas has no asphalt racing. It also makes it difficult to build the sport with all of the uncertainty. Not too many racers can build a car (dirt or asphalt) on a "just in case" basis. It would be great to have a commitment along with class rules sooner in any situation. Definitely an ongoing problem for all tracks. Real Estate Developers are giant predators who want apartments, and shopping centers instead of race tracks. At the end of the day, I firmly believe that is the #1 problem. Many of them are disguised as local politicians who create obstacles for our sport.

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Well, I think one of the problems with our sport is that it has become so specialized. As a result, we have increased costs and an inability or unwillingness to compromise in order to "protect their investment". Don't get me wrong, I would probably do the same thing.

 

There is no easy answer, but its a shame that a lot of cars/trucks will be parked because there's no place to race.

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you can get a shock package from day motorsports for not that much money. I also say let them run on the rules they had for and o the tires they had for the take offs like Factory stocks do. I would just love to see them on the track and if I can ever afford one I would love to have one too.

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I think if you can find them the older ARTS style chassis would be perfect for dirt. There was about 5 or 6 trucks that ran at Gator in 2014 I believe it was Chrudimsky< Gunnar and a couple others that did it.

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Trucks would get better right side note from body roll due to being more top heavy. I don't know anyone who would use an asphalt shock on dirt. I was there that night when Rusty won in his truck. I believe he did it also with a 305 engine. Also, Bud and Charley Henley did it too with their metric truck purpose built for asphalt by Benker. They did very well and won a couple races in it in the limited late model class with those big dirt tires.

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if its been 10 years then that is too long. Like Joe said bring them to 281 speedway. also would the truck owners have any interest in creating a traveling series that goes to multiple tracks?

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  • 1 month later...

The "trucks" are really just a metric frame stock car with a truck body.

The older ARTs chassis were/are too tall to make a "stock car" body look like it belongs. However the more modern style truck chassis that are/were racing along the gulf coast, southern florida and the South East class of that are still based on the GM G Body chassis aka metric frame have allowed for the main roll cage to be lower and further back on the frame. With the later model ARP and Five Star truck bodys you can pretty much mount the roof at almost any height desired at nearly whatever setback you want by the placement of the A and B cab pillars. So in theory you can just as easily put a truck body on a stock car and a stock car body on a "truck" chassis. As far as repurposing a truck chassis to run dirt....pull off the sway bar, raise the ride heights, raise the nose peice (for clearance if you want) and have fun throwing it off in the turn sideways. Side note sometimes a dirt/asphalt mixed setup can work well on some of those summer time dry slick tracks .

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  • 2 months later...

Golden Triangle track allows trucks in their street stock class as per TOSC rules. Not necessarily a pro truck though as the suspension is required to be Stock. Is anyone running something similar? Technical data or even videos of them seem to be pretty non-existent.

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