J-RO

iTrader: (2)

Just wondering if you race once a week how often do you water your track before the race. Track surface is packed soil.

vwduud

iTrader: (48)

This past weekend, in Watson, LA (near Baton Rouge), with sunny skies and temps in the upper 90's for most all of the day, we blew the loose stuff off before each qualifier (and mains) then wet it. Each round of qualifying lasted approximately 1 and 1/2 hours. Traction was fairly consistent through each round, however dust would be a little higher towards the end of each round as the track dried.

It depends on the personnel and equipment you have vs. how long you have for a race day.

We have 2 blowers and a substandard watering system (standard garden hose with a boost pump). It takes about 30 minutes to fully blow and water the track with either 1 or 2 guys running the blowers, with a 3rd person watering behind us.

If we had a better water supply, on that day, we may have opted to water twice as much (during the middle of the rounds as well).

We try to find a balance of good traction, minimize dust during a race (so you can see your car and the track while racing), just not at the expense of making the race day too long. Some of our racers drive close to 2 hours one way.

If you're a one man race director, it is difficult to do this. Track maintenance gets sacrificed in this cases. It takes a good team effort to do it properly and timely on these 1/8th scale tracks nowadays. High powered water supplies help as well.

Z4Kevo

iTrader: (7)

Watering the track prior to running each round (the more you water the better) is the single best thing you can do for the track surface. It makes the surface pliable enough for the cars to fill in all of the cracks with loose dirt...really prolonging surface life.

Damp tracks are better for the track surface, tires, cars (less dirt and dust find its' way into rotating components) all while providing more traction.