NickHolt Posted January 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2019 There'll be some head scratching in the gear department, not to mention the cam department... Sure hope those walls at the ends of the straights are soft... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyRodriguez Posted January 2, 2019 Report Share Posted January 2, 2019 you got that right! Safer Barriers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotatim Posted January 2, 2019 Report Share Posted January 2, 2019 Yea, I really wish they would make the turns a little more sweeping which would make the straights a little shorter. It would also make for quality starts/restarts and a two grove track. No complaints, but if this is their first oval track, they have been receptive of opinions. That is cool. That paper clip may be challenging Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket55 Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 It may appear to be a "paper clip" but I'll still be out there. With as much eyes and great help the owners are getting with the track and its design I believe its going to be "The short track" to run at, I'm excited to say the least. Toyotatim- You may feel it maybe be challenging however that only leaves us racers the opportunity to master it......and I'm always up for a good challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotatim Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 ok man, order a few extra bodies and I will come watch you boys tear em up. I love to hear the metal crunching Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radracr Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 Looks like a good track to run an SBO on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 That doesn't have to be the final layout; we changed the sizing and dimensions more than a dozen times before things went to the city for the final time. The proportions of that draft of the track are roughly equal to Martinsville and where from an earlier draft; I'm working towards shorter straights, broad-turns and variable banking working up to 17-18*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 22 hours ago, RodneyRodriguez said: you got that right! Safer Barriers! Plans to be sponsored by a brake pad company with LOTS of contingency money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotatim Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 2 hours ago, JamesHigdon said: That doesn't have to be the final layout; we changed the sizing and dimensions more than a dozen times before things went to the city for the final time. The proportions of that draft of the track are roughly equal to Martinsville and where from an earlier draft; I'm working towards shorter straights, broad-turns and variable banking working up to 17-18*. Awesome man, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford27 Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 10 hours ago, JamesHigdon said: That doesn't have to be the final layout; we changed the sizing and dimensions more than a dozen times before things went to the city for the final time. The proportions of that draft of the track are roughly equal to Martinsville and where from an earlier draft; I'm working towards shorter straights, broad-turns and variable banking working up to 17-18*. Nice to see something not so cookie cutter. I thought of Martinsville when I saw it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 I recall the powers at THR decided to add to the backstretch. Probably fewer cars going off and causing extended cautions. Maybe look up whoever was in charge when that was done for advice. (That is if there’s enough room for it.) Mel This is exciting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTornado Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 What's the over/under that this thing never happens? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumper Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 I hope this becomes a reality and the management is open minded enough to realize success will come with INVOLVEMENT of the masses, not just the elite. There's already private clubs for racers that want to show off their shinny stuff. Racing is not about the race, its about the SHOW. Remember it started as only a part of Country Fairs as an added show. A successful promoter will be a professional promoter, not unlike Vince McMann who sells fake fighting all over the world with great success. He creates a story with every entrant and every entrant plays a role. Their independent success depends on how well they sell their story. In my opinion every car needs to be a character with its own story. None of us are professional racers but we do create a show that we expect people to pay to watch. Unfortunately racing has become too pompous where the lesser entrants are looked down on and scoffed at. Shame because most of the "lesser" teams indeed have an interesting story relating to how and why they got there. Yet too many promoters overlook their plight when that could draw interest to many. In short, its my opinion that a successful track needs to have a great promoter, not necessarily a great race director. Speed does not do it all anymore. Drama never gets old. Pay attention to the shows that draw big attendance in todays world, not the same old show that cant sell tickets anymore. Your drivers and crew are the show, not the cars. Don't overlook any of them, each one has a following. Don't try to sell their possessions, sell their PASSION ! Share it with the audience. So everyone make fun of me now. My show is no longer interesting to promoters. Shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyRodriguez Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 Nothing funny there, all great points. Used to tell CTS drivers we were in the entertainment business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiTech Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 On 1/3/2019 at 8:34 AM, toyotatim said: ok man, order a few extra bodies and I will come watch you boys tear em up. I love to hear the metal crunching you might be let down on that ….racers good ones will figure out set ups and how to race this track .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arob Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 Are we looking at a 2020 season opening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fast18 Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 The drawing of proposed oval reminds me a bit of Longhorn Speedway. (I loved that track) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 On 1/4/2019 at 9:20 AM, TexasTornado said: What's the over/under that this thing never happens? That’s a great question. What’s the over-under on 30 plus drag racers, drifters, asphalt circle track racers and dirt track racers showing up on a Saturday morning to spend 7 hours cleaning up a racetrack? Probably wouldn’t bet on it but it happened today and Alamo City Motorplex is as clean as it’s ever been. The family that owns the track is lead by a first generation American that built his name in the elevator business and bought a track hundreds of miles from his home because it was his dream to do so. The manager of the track is a 25 year old girl from Kansas that has worked her way up into that position from managing another successful track. The whole situation is built out of improbabilites but until the gates are chained shut people will still be trying to make it happen because right now it’s our only drag-strip, our only good drift facility and as far as I know our only current chance at an asphalt circle track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 22 hours ago, arob said: Are we looking at a 2020 season opening? Cibolo has approved the project so that’s done and it took a while. I’d love to tell you we’ve got a date in mind but this requires a lot of time on the part of some busy people. I can tell you the owner wants it done ASAP and I’m pushing to make that a reality; I’d guess in the next 3-4 weeks we’ll be able to answer that question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 On 1/4/2019 at 12:14 AM, Mel said: I recall the powers at THR decided to add to the backstretch. Probably fewer cars going off and causing extended cautions. Maybe look up whoever was in charge when that was done for advice. (That is if there’s enough room for it.) Mel This is exciting! I’m going to do everything in my power to set things up so that the walls are as far as possible from the groove to minimize downtime and cost for racers. It could end up looking like Anderson but my hopes are it ends up looking more like Irwindale in terms of width and space to “make a mistake”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 2 hours ago, fast18 said: The drawing of proposed oval reminds me a bit of Longhorn Speedway. (I loved that track) I’ve got a file on my computer listing tracks from Angola to Waterford Speedbowl with the positives and the negatives of each tracks layout. Longhorn has a layout very similar to a lot of the more successful 3/8s and 1/4 mile tracks so the resemblance is no coincidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted January 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2019 On 1/4/2019 at 12:14 AM, Mel said: I recall the powers at THR decided to add to the backstretch. Probably fewer cars going off and causing extended cautions. Maybe look up whoever was in charge when that was done for advice. (That is if there’s enough room for it.) Mel This is exciting! I was directly involved with the reconfiguration of Thunderhill Raceway back when Brian Calloway and Jim Lynch owned the lease. The rumble strips were added on both turns to keep folks from driving through the infield which stopped a lot of cautions for mud and dirt on the track. It also forced drivers to use a nice tight line through 1-2 to keep from going off the back side. Keep in mind that the back straight did not have walls so the line was way, way out towards the edge of the pavement. We added 8 feet to the outside of the back straight to keep folks from going off the track so often. That made turns one and two a one-lane turn since the preferred line was to keep it down near the rumble strips and let it drift all the way to the outside of the extended pavement. Setting up for turn 3-4 was no where near as important as 1-2. Frankly, when there are paper clip turns on a quarter-mile that has walls all the war around, you can count on lots of bent sheet metal. There are two paved short tracks in in Maine that you really should look at before you make your final decision on track layout. - the 1/3-mile Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and the 3/8-mile Oxford Plains Speedway. Both are very successful and have been running for decades in their present configurations. Note that there are no walls in the turns. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiTech Posted January 9, 2019 Report Share Posted January 9, 2019 On 1/4/2019 at 1:56 PM, RodneyRodriguez said: Nothing funny there, all great points. Used to tell CTS drivers we were in the entertainment business. nick looks like you never go straight on either track .wonder how long the tires last ….walls never bothered me much . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radical Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 22 hours ago, HiTech said: nick looks like you never go straight on either track .wonder how long the tires last ….walls never bothered me much . Walls never bothered me either. I think I have my name on it all the way around Corpus Christi Speedway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted January 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 It has been my experience that when a race car comes in contact with a solid wall, usually the wall wins. If possible, build a 1/4-mile or a 1/3-mile asphalt track (or even a 3/8-mile track in some cases) with no walls except where needed to protect spectators. I realize that space considerations are in play in Marion and that the "ideal" track configuration is probably not going to happen there, but I'm pretty sure that rethinking the configuration as presented in the 1st post in this thread would be a good idea. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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