Sunday, November 22, 2015

A Comparison of the SMI Dirt Tracks

While I chose not to blog about it due to the fact I was there on my own dime, a couple of weeks ago, at the last minute and on a "wild hair" idea, Linda and I drove to Charlotte North Carolina for the World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway featuring the last race of the year for the World of Outlaws Sprints and Late Models plus the big block Modifieds in their Super Dirt Series finale.

When the long range forecast of great weather suddenly turned much grimmer just before our scheduled time of departure, it was probably a fool hardy trip, especially knowing that if the Sunday rain date was used, we couldn't stay to see that part of the show. Be it as it may, we still went and while we battled the weather for three days and only saw one of the two scheduled programs, it was still an entertaining and learning experience for us.

We picked probably the worst year ever to attend this race with all of the weather issues but record numbers of both Late Models and Sprint Cars showed up anyway along with a stout field of Big Block Modifieds. The racing was intense in all three classes despite the difficult track conditions that saw a lot of expense race cars used up and I could not help but marvel at hard the drivers raced, even though the track was a real handful. of particular interest for me on this trip was the opportunity to see the Big Blocks in action. In the last couple of years I have developed quite an increased interest in the center steer Modifieds that are huge on the East Coast. With the lack of race papers now available(some of you hopefully still remember what a race PAPER was), I started subscribing to Area Auto Racing News which is published in Trenton New Jersey. Owner Lenny Sammons and his writers do a great job of covering racing, particularly East of the Mississippi, and their coverage of Modifieds, Late Models and Sprints is first rate and it is perhaps the best race paper I have ever read, bar none.

Anyway, I was very anxious to see drivers like Tremont, Friesen, Sheppard, Pauch and Hearn race for the first time and they didn't leave me disappointed. Even Linda, who knew none of these drivers,  had to admit that their racing was some of the best of the entire weekend. What I was surprised was how poorly they were treated as a class. Going from being the "big shots" on the East Coast, they became the track packers here and they raced first both when the track was at its worst and also the latest in the wee hours of Saturday morning. But I saw enough that I know that I would definitely like to see them again some time, perhaps at a track just a mite smaller that Charlotte.

But I digress. This blog was to compare the three SMI tracks and in the short days after Charlotte, we then flew out to Vegas for IMCA's Duel In The Desert at SMI's track there. I'm guessing that we may have been the only two to pull off that doubleheader, but it's not surprising since there aren't that many "goofballs" left around any more.

All three SMI tracks are first rate and provide great accommodations for the fans. All three have fantastic grandstands with excellent, TV quality lighting. The sound systems are great in all three and the only time I ever had any trouble hearing was at Charlotte when I was trying to hear time trials with multiple cars on the track. For some reason, even though all cars were using transponders to record times, they didn't flash the times on the scoreboards, which are actually pretty pedestrian at all three tracks and certainly not like anything Knoxville has for example.

While the spectator seating and amenities are pretty similar at all three tracks, the pits areas on the other hand vary widely. Vegas has great pit parking that is all on blacktop for almost as far as one can see while Texas is slightly smaller but still good. Charlotte, on the other hand, is worlds behind. Most of the cars pit on dirt quite a distance behind the pit grandstands while the Sprint Cars are crammed in a tight area just off turn one with the unfortunate late ones from the non power teams forced to pit on grass in a spectator parking area that with all the rains this Fall, was a muddy mess with haulers sinking out of sight on occasion.

Pit amenities varied considerably with Charlotte again on the outside looking in. Both Vegas and Texas have fine restroom facilities for the pit personal while Charlotte is still in the dark ages with Satellites the only convenience offered.

Without seeing a race at Charlotte that wasn't plagued by all the wet weather that made the track tough to both pack in and race on, I have to qualify any comparisons on the racing surfaces and the racing itself. I was only at Texas one time, and both nights of the racing there were very good on a smooth and fast surface that did take just a little rubber for the Late Models. The infield tunnel there is a special bonus as it allows cars to exit to the pits smoothly while not holding up the action for those in the next race rolling on to the track.

Charlotte seemed like it would be a good track to see racing if the conditions were more favorable and I have seen some TV racing from the track that looked good, if but a big dusty. If fact, by the Sprint feature from Friday night, even with all the mud and wet conditions, where the track had dried out low in the corners, we got blasted with dust from the prevailing winds in our faces.

Vegas' issues have been well documented throughout the years, virtually from the time the track was built. However, quite frankly, when you have a track situated in the desert, finding proper material to race on can be challenging, although there are certainly some other tracks in the same situation that seemed to have solved the problem some way. U.S.A. Raceway in Tucson would be a prime example. This year their promises to rectify the situation for next year seemed the most sincere ever, so we will wait to see what happens for 2016. Despite the less than perfect conditions that the drivers have had to contend with, there have been some good races in the Modifieds at the track over the years. I have not seen a Sprint show at Vegas so cannot comment on how their racing goes, but the Late Model shows I've seen all saw the track take rubber.

All three tracks vary slightly in size and shape and particularly Vegas gives the impression that they had "so much land available" to make a dirt track so they made it fit that land. The one thing that is always mind boggling at these three tracks is that they are used so seldom. Vegas has two races per year along with Texas while Charlotte is used slightly more than that but under a half dozen times. Just about any other track in the country would kill to have the kind of facilities that these three tracks offer, yet they mostly just sit. They certainly can't be money makers and I'm guessing that if SMI was building these three super facilities over again in 2016 as opposed to when they were built in the "hey days" of NASCAR, the dirt tracks would have been left off the plans. All three are certainly among the nicest tracks in the country though and shouldn't be passed up if one would happen to be in their area when one of their rare races takes place.

One last comment this time; during my visit to Charlotte I had the opportunity to meet Karl Fredrickson as I wandered under the grandstand on a wet Friday morning. Karl is the Publisher of Dick Berggren's Speedway Illustrated and has a column in the magazine every month. If you're not familiar with Speedway Illustrated, it is by far the finest of all the racing publications on the market today and a magazine you should be reading if you're not. Anyway, a nicer person in the sport I have never met before. He was so friendly and pleasant and easy to talk with. I suspect that I could have talked racing with Karl for hours if time allowed and would certainly like to do so sometime in my life. He is one of racing's true "insiders" but so easy to talk with and so down to earth.

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