NASTE Race #7 at Howie's

Maybe we should throw out the results of the second race entirely since we didn't count one lane and somebody cleaned their tires before a heat which was a no-no.

Ya know, my initial opinion was to not count the race since tire traction changed drastically.  If you were in an early heat you were golden, later heat, tons of trouble.  To say that only the early drivers get decent traction and that is somehow fair is ludicrous.

I will remove the race from the standings.

Throw it all out! It was a fun night either way. Maybe Bill could uncover the 55's by then. At least when they don't have traction, they are still fun. It will also be after Howie's big race and if he doesn't clean the track they might work just fine.

We had a problem with racing the '55 Chevy's when the track was "tacked up" with traction compound. The front tires on the '55's would pick up the traction compound once the tires got hot. This caused the cars to bounce and vibrate and actually de-slot even on the straights. After that race we started the process of cleaning the track off completely before a NASTE race where the '55's were going to be raced. This was not a perfect solution because the hard rubber tires on the '55's provided very little traction on the bare track. I think the best solution would be to build up a set of IROC cars just for racing at Howie's. I would build the cars using Flexi type chassis powered by H&R motors. I would use Team Bluegroove bodies because of their durability, and run the natural rubber tires typical of what the Rapid Raceway racers use. The only down side is the tires would have to be replaced at each race as they will probably not last between races. The tire's shelf life is somewhat short, but can be extended by storage in a freezer, which is something that could be experimented with. With this setup the condition of the track could be commensurate to the normal races held at Rapid Raceway for the True Scale racers. No additional track preparation would be required.

Testing before hand is a good idea. I have seen on my old track how varying weather conditions (temp & humidity) can affect available grip on a track, especially when using hard rubber or urethane tires. Using the natural rubber tires and some traction compound on the track surface as is the routine at Rapid Raceway, the effects of those variables would be lessened.