I have only been going to Terre Haute since 1981. Front stretch has always been the place with the most dust, unless water was standing on the inside and it was really narrow. I had no complaints with last night. Thought it was real good.
11 Likes:BrentTFunk, Charles Nungester, Dirtfan, i love dirt track racing, Jerry Shaw, Kydehart, mc/rider, racinrich, ronmil, Simon_says17, tirespinner
Originally Posted by ronmil:
That used to be commonplace, especially on the miles, but I thought it was outlawed.
That's what it looked like to me but that was just my guess. Little white balls but I guess it could've been something else. I overheard Schrader talking to one of the track prep guys giving him props on a good surface. The guy replied, "Well they told me they wanted it wet so that's what i'll give em'". Almost sounded like maybe he personally thought it was going to be too wet but I think it turned out well. Maybe not as juiced as it was to start out the night at the sprint week rainout but it was good. Hopefully this is what we can expect going forward at THAT!
I might be mistaken but I believe applications of CaCl2 is outlawed over here in The Land O' Lincoln and crooked politicians. However the State of Illinois can dump it on the roads in copious amounts without any restrictions at all. The deleterious effects can be seen on roads and bridges all over the state, not to mention vehicles falling apart from rust way before their time.
I have never seen a fertilizer spreader spreading a wetting agent on a racetrack. If it wasn't CaCl2 I hope whatever it was is used again at THAT. The track Saturday night was just about as good as can be expected from THAT.
Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
A guy that was sitting where Kenny (ISF) and I were said one of the track people told him it was lime they were spreading. Per wiki:
"The broadly used term lime connotes calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides of calcium, silicon, magnesium, aluminium, and iron predominate."
Whether that's what it actually was or whether it had any effect, either positive or negative on the great racing we saw on this night, I haven't a clue.
Jerry
A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.
Calcium chloride is hygroscopic which means it has the ability to draw moisture from the air. So, if it were used I suppose it could aid somewhat in keeping the track surface moist. I have no idea if it is illegal to apply to race tracks or why it would be since it is applied to roads and sold routinely in bags to melt ice on sidewalks (as it mixes with water an endothermic reaction occurs which means heat is generated and that also helps melt the ice).
