terrible race at fontana

[Ed Wright]

We were in contact with a couple of friends who were there racing. They pretty much told us what was said here. Poor track prep, workers, organization, etc. They thought it was a joke also. Very dissapointed.

[RacerJJ]

What exactly is "good" track prep? I have made probably close to 2000 laps on the Fontana track and I have been to several other tracks. Fontana uses the same equipment that every other track I have visited uses. Fontana uses VHT, they have a drag tractor, they scrape before and after every event, and the track crew is made up of racers who know what a good track is. I raced at the D7 Finals recently in Fallon. The track was mediocre at best. The only plus was the dirty permanent restroom. Other than that, the track had a lousy PA system, the pits were mostly dirt, and the track had some cracks in it the size of the San Andreas fault. Yet, everyone raves about how great that track is because their car hooks. Did it ever occur to anyone that their car hooks there because the high altitude limits the power cars make? I guess I just don't understand why Fontana gets beat up so much. What do you want them to do? I can't speak for the contracted Security or the ticketing personnel, but the on-track crew is top notch and they are some of the most skilled in what they do. Above their skill, the track crew their simply cares and I know for a fact that the head starter will NOT let a race continue with a bad track. If you had issues with the track, check your set-up. I am willing to bet the farm that it wasn't the tracks fault. Come to any PSCA race their and see cars go deep in the 6's at over 230 mph on a small tire in the heat and in the cold.

[7820]

Hey Rod I did not see your name on a Stock or Super Stock Qualifying list at the Sportnationals at Fontana.

Since Rod and Ed were not at the Sportsnationals let me clue everyone in as to what took place over the weekend. First.....Fontana did not do the track prep. The Fontana crew does show up and work on the track before racing starts and then it is handed over to NHRA.

On Saturday afternoon it rained and then it rained on Saturday night and then on Sunday morning it was sunny and warm. This is probably the worst case scenario there is for track prep. Water soaks turu and gets under the rubber duing the night......when the warm sun comes out the next morning it evaporates and causes the rubber to seperate from the concrete. Bad deal but it is a mother nature thing not a track thing.

Along with that when the problem on Sunday was recognized racing was stopped and the track was shut down for about three hours so the track crew could work on the starting area.

All weekend long lots of fast cars went down the track including 8.60 hemi cars without problems. Ony one crash and that was caused by a Super Stock racer putting his car into reverse after the finish line. My bad...should have said broke rear suspension.

[Tony Janes]

The Super Stock racer did not put the car in reverse, he broke a rear suspension part. Get the facts straight