767 on another thread made a good point about what I’ve been seeing and it’s nothing new, but seems to have accelerated in recent times. It’s trending away from what I think dirt track racing should be, but I believe there’s a reason for that. Now I’m going to use some Late Model references here so if that offends you, please turn the channel. Smooth and slick seems to be the preferred surface of big time dirt racing these days. My theory on that is it benefits the highest engineered teams by allowing them to get the most out of their big time shock packages and other things. (I would say traction control but we all know that’s illegal, wink) I’ll go back to what was either an XR or Lucas race at our beloved Kokomo Speedway You can probably track this down yourself if you want to, but in the pre-race they interviewed Reece. Now this may not be verbatim but it’s close. He said they told him you don’t have to prepare the track like you would for Sprint Cars because these cars manufacture grip. The big money team’s have the loudest voice so that’s what they want. A track with a thick and treacherous cushion might give some B level guy the idea he can compete with the big dogs while running the uncomfortable thin edge between fast and disaster. Case in point. Last year at the last Lucas race at Eldora, Mother Nature intervened. My buddy Mac is a 35 year veteran of World 100’s. He said that was one of the best best Eldora race’s he’s seen. Many insider’s complained of track texture, while someone like Tyler Carpenter was putting on a show for the ages. Yes the same “ Hey Dudes” Tyler that always runs well at the St Louis dome. It seems the best shocks and engineers don’t mean as much when you have wheels off the ground. Now I’m not saying I want to see a cornfield race, but slick and smooth you can keep for pavement rain delays. Track prep is hard work. To get moisture in the track, especially in conditions like we’ve had recently can be a monumental challenge. I don’t think the trend will change anytime soon. Doesn’t look good when the Hey Dude kid drives past Superman

Channel turned & blocked.

I prefer damp and cowboy up, separate the ballsy from the neutered

With the way dirt late models are going I’d certainly not follow their lead on track prep. Over the last few years the body rules have become so lax that the aero is ruining the racing. The races on 1/2 miles is worse than it has ever been. World 100 was pretty good. Cool temps helped the track imo. That was the first good race at Eldora on the late model side in several years.

When I raced the "locals" hated a heavy fast track. They constantly bitched and threatened to leave and not come back when it wasn't slick and smooth. Honestly it was annoying. I was always told the track is the same for everyone, figure it out. Being a track promoter is the most thankless job in the world. The crowd complains about the dust or track conditions and the drivers want the track to suit them. You can't win.

If you understand how much mechanical grip and downforce a modern dirt Late Model creates, not to mention how actually fragile they are, you'd understand why they don't like to race in the mud.

And right on, aero is killing Late Model racing, but anything you do to get away from that is going to slow them down significantly. No one wants that either.

Yes Mike, I’m sure you’ve noticed at some point on most nights at Haubstadt a manure smell ( or that could just be me sitting next to Rpracing1 ) and you’ll see mulch mixed in as well.