Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

How to Clean Up a Car Before Running a Race Track

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • How to Clean Up a Car Before Running a Race Track

    Well, this is it.....who was counting? I'm starting another thread. The thread clock stops NOW.

    Heading south this weekend. Why do you wash a car before running a race track? Nobody there cares, and we've got a 2 hour drive to get there. More Hawk brake smoke on the wheels if nothing else, the trip there. Wash the car in the motel parking lot? Not unless you're at the Gearhead Inn. Vacuum the floorboards? Going 100 mph with the windows down (required) will take care of that (If I can finally make that speed at AMP).

    And Sue's gonna ride along on the track, so she says. This is gonna be a boatpot shitload of fun if Unit doesn't scream so loud I can't concentrate in the curves, and it's ALL curves at Atlanta Motorsports Park. Film at eleven.



    Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

  • #2
    We ALWAYS vacuum, air hose blow and sweep out a derby car before an event!
    The smallest shit flying on impact HURTS!
    Car's painted from the last show.. No refresh! No washing mud off either..

    Comment


    • #3
      I was instructed by the Tech guy at the drag strip to wash my car and come back before he would tech me in. they even have a spot with a hose and bucket. i was told they dont want dirt falling off my car onto the track.

      I had trailered my car there, it sat on the trailer the previous week from the last time i was at the drag strip... but, hey, what ever floats yer boat, skippy.
      Charles

      Comment


      • #4
        The thing I'm into, High Performance Driving.....it's ten leagues beneath anything you guys here have done, hotrodding sanctioned stuff. HPD allows anybody to drive their own car on a real race track. Wannabes on a weekend.

        Road Atlanta is FAST, coming down the short straight about 100 mph into Turn 6, there's a guy in a fancy Corvette who's plowed dirt in front of the flag stand, the very first first green flag lap. His weekend out. So, do you not build up to what you can do? Dirt and stuff is all over the track, be careful going through there next time, remember that stuff's there, while still going as fast as you can (which is not all that fast, but as fast as you can go).

        It's fun. AMP is not the same track as Road Atlanta , I want to do AMP again for the 4th time. We're going. Race track. Hills and curves.

        Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

        Comment


        • #5
          They are going to love the rust under the dash on my phoenix :D

          Comment


          • #6
            stop underselling it PDub, what you do is straight up awesome. mucho respecto dude....

            and Sue Unit is riding with, all the better. My wife will not ride in my Camaro. rumor has it, I may have drove dumb with her in the car once. oops...



            have fun man.
            Last edited by 1badmonkey; September 15, 2015, 06:21 PM.
            Charles

            Comment


            • #7
              Have fun, PW.

              In LSR there's a requirement to have the car looking decent (I forget the exact words they use) so it it's too funky you can't run. But Mutt comes off the trailer after a 650 mile ride, often in the rain, so he usually isn't looking his very best. I DO try, however. Oh, and vacuuming - as Bob alluded to, you don't want crap flying around the interior at speed.

              Dan

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by DanStokes View Post
                Have fun, PW.

                In LSR there's a requirement to have the car looking decent (I forget the exact words they use) so it it's too funky you can't run. But Mutt comes off the trailer after a 650 mile ride, often in the rain, so he usually isn't looking his very best. I DO try, however. Oh, and vacuuming - as Bob alluded to, you don't want crap flying around the interior at speed.

                Dan

                The exact rule is 2.K All Vehicles entered in an event shall be maintained so as to present a neat appearance.

                Well my car looks really neat, i'm good. The floor chimes are just there to satisfy the contrasting color component of the rules.

                Comment


                • #9
                  As I understand it this rule has been in the book from Day 1. The idea was to counteract the public perception that performance cars were just jalopies (term on the day for a junker) and were not well regarded. It those days it was common (thought not required) for race teams to wear matching outfits, etc. in an effort to look respectable.

                  Dan

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by DanStokes View Post
                    As I understand it this rule has been in the book from Day 1. The idea was to counteract the public perception that performance cars were just jalopies (term on the day for a junker) and were not well regarded. It those days it was common (thought not required) for race teams to wear matching outfits, etc. in an effort to look respectable.

                    Dan

                    And I make a strong effort to look unrespectable, we'll see how that goes over.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Back when I went mudding I would start with a washed truck. Then I'd leave it on for a week . Last time , I don't know what was in that mud but , it was on the frame worse than cement . Some of it wouldnt come off. Wouldn't soften up even after soaking it .
                      Previously HoosierL98GTA

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        It was CLAY! Some is imbedded in sand for horse events, (with horsepoop too!) and then they water the track to prevent dust storms..this the stuff gets in every nook and cranny on a dented car..

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I'm excited, Unit's excited, our weekend out. At a RACE TRACK.

                          All of the videos from tracks I've taken before was with a Sony Bloggie, an old camera. I rubber-banded it to the rear view mirror at the Ohio mile, don't need the mirror there. I rubber-banded it to the GPS mount at road courses. Toward the end, the Bloggie stopped picking up the sound, still good video.

                          Trying to get modern, Unit got us a GoPro from the local trading post, used with lots of fixtures and mounts. Even with a touch screen on the back, you could see what the camera sees. It was crap, never got track use out of it....old and worn out, the touch screen didn't work for what it was supposed to do.

                          Unit got us a new (the cheapest) GoPro, no touch screen. I think we're gonna like it. The sound's there. With some practice as to how to use it....this is just a test. Load tools, Wees and a camera, and off to the race track we go.


                           
                          Last edited by pdub; September 16, 2015, 03:26 PM.
                          Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            We have the cheapest because there is no telling how they last with hit after hit..
                            Hardest thing is to make sure it is on.. We have a mud cover and it is hard to turn on with gloved hands so we waste card space by turning it on in the pits..
                            Go get em! Have fun!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Well, that was 3/5 as much fun as it could have possibly been, sans the right rear caliper busted again on the third of what would have been five sessions. Unit got to ride along in the third session, they wouldn't let B-Group drivers take passengers until after lunch. Her first ride ever on a race track.

                              To start the day, I was all excited and got to the starting grid first. This time they were lining up different, you had to drive around the garage area and start facing the pit road instead of driving down it. The man said GO and I went down the frontage road that's right beside that guard rail leading to the track. Fortunately the rest of the crowd didn't follow me down into there. Yep, I'm a race car driver alright.

                              With the early out causa the caliper seal, (can drive it home, can't race it anymore like that) we were seeing a recurrent theme developing - watching TV in a motel room in Dawsonville, Georgia. Second straight time. Met a couple of interesting characters at the motel. One guy pulled up in a really cool 1964 Galaxy. He was checking in to participate in a car show at a nearby nudist resort - http://www.paradisevalleyclub.com/ I've got photos of the car, not of him with no clothes on.

                              And a guy who had been living at that motel and others for three months because a tree fell on his house. With his wife and two yapping yip-dogs. He seemed none the worse for wear, holding a case of Corona.

                              I'll post two videos and the content of both are the most valuable at the start of each - me going down the frontage road, and Unit's reaction to the first lap at speed on the track. Puter says it'll take a couple hours to finish uploading the videos. And some photos of the Galaxy, original, completely un-restored except for an engine swap. Film at eleven.


                              Last edited by pdub; September 20, 2015, 07:43 AM.
                              Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X