I always wondered how the different tracks are all over the country. Most of us have not raced ALL the popular tracks that are in the racing circuit. So what I want to know are your experiences are as a CREW or DRIVER.

This question is intended for individuals that have BEEN to MOST of the tracks in the country and their experiences at those locations.

From observation: It seems to be that E-town is a track where most of the FASTEST times are done. Any comparison to the West Coast tracks? the only one I can think of would be Pomona(unfortunately open only 1 weekend a year for us)

 

I'm no pro either, but RT. 66 in Joliet IL is known to be a good track. I've personally seen a lot of NDRA records broken there.

 

Appreciate the comment, but I was looking more for persons that have BEEN to Multiple tracks and can compare them to each other.

 

hey let's not forget about our track here in vegas! it's a very fast track! the nhra pro guys seem to love it! and psca too we have midnight mayhem very often and the track gets prepped prior to midnight mayhem for test n tune! as a matter of fact we have our first midnight mayhem next week on friday the 25th it should be a great turn out! i invited cortney and jason down! there will be couple of 8 & 9sec imports running! and who ever else shows hopefully some more v8 killers show up to whop on some of these meat heads LOL ! my car won't be done for awhile so i'll leave it up to whoever else has the heat to do it.

 

Can we stick to the topic please. I was trying to prevent the post from being a one track experience response.
Yes, we all know that the LV track is nice and all but how would you compare it to: Moroso, Etown, Atco, Joliet, Pomona, Sonoma, Firebird, Rockingham, Bandimere, Palmdale, Fontana, etc.

 

ok i have never been to the east coast tracks so i can't speak for them! well from what i know, I guess you can say pomona is the quickest track on the west coast and the second would be here in vegas and 3rd would be bakersfield cause of the new surface and the altitude of the track 4th being palmdale which really use to suck cause of the sandy surface and slipperyness. I guess bernie had new surface put down because alot of pro cars didn't want to run there cause they said the track was too dangerous, and to name a few bruce mortensen and jojo callos did not like that track!. you couldn't run a topfuel car down that track with out eating some wall! but now who knows if the track has gotten better i haven't raced on it in a couple of years!

 

ive seen moroso both sticky and slick, its not the best (smoothest) track all the way down either,orlando's speedworld-might as well through oil on the starting line lol, ive seen it sticky once but other than that,pretty much average; gainsville in my book is top notch, nhra runs there and ive always posted good times on it, big facility; Englishtown to me is like another gainsville, great track, smooth and sticky also. Atco is a lil step down, not as nice but a very popular track as well. in georgia, Cecil's track is a new track, not huge but damn nice. great hooking up track also- boostedb20vtec got a 1.5 60ft in his street honda on his way to trapping 140, great day anything else i dont have any personal experience with.

 

Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield = E-Town.

John@M&H-Hashims

 

GrandBend Motorplex in Ontario, Canada is amazing. It reminds me of E-Town, but at home. We get to race it a few times a year, and always have a good time. Usually find a lot of the import guys break as they are not used to the level of traction GB gives.

They have a great track staff and all the good equipment..

Toronto Motorsports park is another good track, re-surfaced a few years ago, so it is getting better. Always a good track just after they have the IHRA National event!

 

pittsburgh raceway park has come along way in the last few years. it is pretty stickie most nights and they are doin a lot of renovations to try to get a big IHRA event held there. they were division 1 track of the year for the IHRA last year

 

mir alot of records are set there for events the track always is preped good

 

how about Pomona? i kno its only open once a year, but theres been some records set their.

 

I think E town is the best track MOST of the time. As far as the stickiest I have ever been to or remember was Joilet when we ran for a Powerade race. Either on a Battle event or Powerade race that track has been pretty damn good. That was damn sticky, infact most POwerade races are gonna be really really sticky. I can only imagine how dope the track is at E-town during a Powerade event. It is already good on an import event.


Believe it or not.....Irwindale has E-Town conditions. Irwindale 60 foot was way better than the Pomona Finals.

 

Good info guys. thanks Ron.
Good to hear some information from someone that has experience from both coasts.

Ron: hows E-town compared to our common West Coast tracks? LACR, Firebird, Famoso?
not pomona cuz its rarely available for us to use.

 

When I think of fast tracks, these are the first that come to mind. I have only been to 2 in CA, but have covered a decent amount of other ones
E-town, NJ (always fast and usually well-prepped)
MIR, MD (awesome staff and fast)
Baytown, TX (terrible everything, but fast)
San Antonio Raceway, TX (my home and all-around favorite)
Bristol, TN (honorable mention) (really nice, but not as fast)


Modified by jdkindle at 11:50 AM 2/21/2005

 

dam theres not even 1 track in the West that can get close to the tracks you all have been. hehe. Wish we had a good track out here.

 

Etown and Bristol, have cut great short times at both

 

Englishtown is great set up but I have hooked better over and over at Maple Grove and Atco.

Cecil County hooks "when" it is prepped well, but I always question that track, the ET's you get there are so hard to carry over to another track so I never claim a Cecil County ET. Also, the timing lights are further out so your trap speed is always greater.

Capitol Raceway I have run some great numbers but that track seemed really down hill for some reason, anyone else think that too?

My buddy Joe has raced at all of these including MIR, Bristol as well as VMP. I will see what he thinks as to how they compared.

- billy

 

Joliet is a great track, but last year at BOTI the track was horrible. There were bald spots on the line and they just had VHT on those...nowhere else. I did lose both of my shoes in that spot though

 

I have traveled to all the NHRA events, and I would have to say E-Town or Maple Grove would be top pick.

Not a big fan of Atco, but then again everytime we go the weather conditions suck.

Pomona is a great track, and i would have to agree with Jeremy on River City in San Antonio (the only track where I have broke both axles and diff on the same pass!!)

Moroso is decent, and if it weren't for the altitude Bandimere would be a top pick!

Thats my 2 pennies as a Crew Chief!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4piston &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Joliet is a great track, but last year at BOTI the track was horrible. There were bald spots on the line and they just had VHT on those...nowhere else. I did lose both of my shoes in that spot though </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes it did...there was nothing but street-tire cars there...thats why.

I went back the next tuesday and picked up 2 tenths on ET and .12 on sixty foot...No changes.

 

Here are the tracks that I have got some data on from Ed's car.

In order, from best to worst:

1. E-Town
2. Irwindale ( for 1/8 mile )
3. Las Vegas
4. Bandimere
5. Joliet
6. Moroso
7. Pomona
8. Atco
9. Palmdale
10. Fontana

Those are my picks for top 10. As far as Pomona, it would be a MUCH better track if they used it more than 3 times a year but since it sits for sooo long between races, it falls apart.

Maple Grove is also a very nice track and would rate it high, but I am going by the data from the Mazda 6 and it has never been able to experience the Grove. MIR is also a very nice track, as far as the actual track is concerned.

Oh, I forgot San Antonio, good, but not great.

 

I've seen alot of the tracks around the country more than afew times heres my picks

RT.66 <U></U>(in october thats were you break records period)
MIR<U></U>( hooks so good if you don't break you'll go real fast, also last year saw a corrected alt. of -20ft )
E-Town<U></U>( cool weather staff knows how to get the track right for the type of car thats racing)
Houston<U></U> (5ft above sea level )
U.S41 in Moroco IN <U></U>(**** everything but the part that counts, watch your but hole you ain't in the city no more boy)
final Atco <U></U>(one reason, two words TIKI BAR )

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ssc_thomas &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">final Atco <U></U>(one reason, two words TIKI BAR )</TD></TR></TABLE>

I definitly agree with you on the Tiki Bar!!

 

E-Town- Well run track that usually works pretty good. Great starting line and the groove is usually pretty big but it is towards the inside of the track. Pits are well organized and the atmosphere is great. The employees there are very understanding and they know how to put on a good race. Overall for a show they have the staff, fans and the facility to do a great event.

Moroso- The track is run OK but the pits suck. The track has been improved now that they put the walls up at the edge of the track. i used to tell people that Moros looks like the widest groove, yet it probably has the smallest but all that has changed. They used to have the concrete barriers off the side of the track after about 40' of grass and it gave the racer a big misconception about the lane size and now that doesn't seem to be a problem anymore. Shut down area sucks at night.

MIR. It's much better now that the staging lanes have been redesigned, the people are friendly there and they are very accomodating. The track seems to work very well there.

Atco- This is the northeast outlaw track. Anytime there is a full service bar in the pits with a stage and a pole in it for a stripper, it works for me. I first raced at Atco in the late 80's and the track has come a long way. The starting line used to be a big mess but it is much better organized now. They suck at cleaning the track up quickly sometimes and night racing sucks there. The cars are real easy to control in the first 300' when they are out of the groove but after that you are on your own. They need to get rid of those damn Armco barriers and put up some concrete walls.

Virginia Motorsports Park- track works great, you could be out of the groove spinning the tires the whole quarter mile and have control of the car. Just ask Arturbo about my video there and you will see what I'm talking about. Nice facility with plenty of room. they run a lot of fast cars there and they all seem to do well.

Pomona- A mess, never get down the track clean there. You need to where sunglasses if you are in final round because you will be blind withouot them from the sun in your eyes. I've been there for way to many timing light problems, they probably have those problems because the track is used to infrequently. Clean ups there take forever.

Texas Motorplex- Good track, no fans and that's always a bummer. To damn hot to be in a racecar to. Why did we go there in the summer (who's the bains behind that schedule).

Houston- Went really fast in Houston and I was very consistent. Can't complain about the track but again, no fans.

Kansas- What a wierd groove. I like to be about a foot away from the centerline and the car is a drem to drive there. The track is to dame big though and the stands are about 300' away from the track. you need a map to find the staging lanes from your pits. The wind going through the staging tunnel is incredible. The wind speed increase to about 80 miles an hour when it's coming at you. When the wind is blowing that hard there leave the chutes in, you don't want to pull the laundry and you won't need to.

Palmdale- A fun shithole. Some good memories even though me car can't perform there. The track just sucks all around. The wind blows dust all over that track.

Vegas- Awesome facility, too big for an import race, it will always look empty when we go there. Sometimes, if its a windy day there, the car will make a move when you go past the grandstands and the wind hits you, you need to be prepared for that. I've been there twice where they shut it down to run 1/8 mile only because of the wind. Good people there though.

Gainesville- The track sucks, not just for the fact that I had to go home n a helicopter from there one day, it always sucks. Plus have you ever smelled th ewater in the bathrooms there? What's up with that, that **** has to give you cancer. The people that work there are really nice and helpful though. I'll be there in April for my funny car license so that should be an interesting ride.

Bakersfield- Cow ****, that's all I remember about Bakerfield.

Seattle Int'l Raceway- most beautiful track surroundings in the world. You pull in there and you think you just arrived at Summer camp but the track and the stands are the worst on the circuit.

Maple Grove- Beautiful like Seattle but the track is awesome there. If you go there be prepared to make changes to your tune up that don't make sense to you. The tune up there is totally different than any other track that is at the same altitude that day. It is a very oxygen rich facility.

Island Dragway. I think this is the oldest NHRA track in existence, it's in Jersey and the track works really well. If you are driving a 6 second car there, you're not stopping in time. 6 secind cars need to pull the chutes at about 1000'. It's to bad because it could be a record setting track. the pits are small and a lot of dirt but the track works great.

Chicago (Rte. 66)- What can I say about this place, it's almost perfect. There is a small design flaw in the stands where the wind creates a tornado like effect on the strating line but it's an amazing place.

Sonoma- Why don't we go here anymore? This is the nicest track on the circuit. Awesome pit area, good food, great staging lanes and a perfect track. Very fast.

Colorado- Never been there.

I'm sure there's some I missed but that will give you a good idea.