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Norwalk, Ohio, June 28, 2008 -- Crews worked through most of the night to fix the water seepage problem that led to cancellation of Friday qualifying at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
The ground was saturated from 13 inches of rain in the week prior to the event, and water was seeping up through cracks in the asphalt creating an unsafe track condition.
“The ground is completely saturated with water,” said Bill Bader, Jr., president of Summit Motorsports Park . “When the track surface got hot from the sun, it created a very rare condition causing water to percolate up like in a coffee maker. The main problem was from the finish line into the shutdown area where the cars are at top speed.” Friday’s sun baked the track surface to 127 degrees.
Quick highlights/quotes:
…Friday afternoon while racing was postponed, crews started digging ditches to drain water from underneath the track. In an unusual live demonstration of a sponsor’s products, equipment from the Krystowski Tractor Sales/Kubota and Cat midway displays were called into action to dig. “This was truly an ‘above and beyond’ effort from these sponsors to help save the day, and we really appreciate their help so we could continue racing on Saturday,” said Bader.
…Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Frank Manzo, an underground utility contractor from Morganville N.J. and owner of the Summit Motorsports Park E.T. and mile per hour records for TAFC, jumped in and operated a backhoe.
…After competition was cancelled Friday evening, crews dug ditches three feet deep on both sides of the track from the finish line at 1,320 feet to 2,000 feet down track, to allow water to drain from underneath the track surface. A series of slices were cut in the track surface from the center of the track outward to the guard walls, to aid in drainage.
…By 3:00 a.m. Saturday the water runoff had slowed significantly from earlier in the evening and was still trickling out at 6:00 a.m. Saturday.
…The number one qualifier in Funny Car, Robert Hight, had this to say about track conditions on Saturday: “The track was fine today. This track is as good as any track in the country…I had the top speed of 309 mph and there was nothing wrong with the track.”
…Funny Car legend John Force on track conditions: “The Bader family is always going to do whatever it takes to put on a show for the fans. They worked all night to give us a good race track and we got all four of our Fords in the show so obviously all the work paid off.”
…Pro Stock driver Warren Johnson, number seven qualifier, on track conditions: “For the most part track conditions were acceptable throughout today…the facility is fine.”
Crews Work Through the Night to Drain Water from Beneath Summit Motorsports Park
Norwalk, Ohio, June 28, 2008 -- Crews worked through most of the night to fix the water seepage problem that led to cancellation of Friday qualifying at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
The ground was saturated from 13 inches of rain in the week prior to the event, and water was seeping up through cracks in the asphalt creating an unsafe track condition.
“The ground is completely saturated with water,” said Bill Bader, Jr., president of Summit Motorsports Park . “When the track surface got hot from the sun, it created a very rare condition causing water to percolate up like in a coffee maker. The main problem was from the finish line into the shutdown area where the cars are at top speed.” Friday’s sun baked the track surface to 127 degrees.
Quick highlights/quotes:
…Friday afternoon while racing was postponed, crews started digging ditches to drain water from underneath the track. In an unusual live demonstration of a sponsor’s products, equipment from the Krystowski Tractor Sales/Kubota and Cat midway displays were called into action to dig. “This was truly an ‘above and beyond’ effort from these sponsors to help save the day, and we really appreciate their help so we could continue racing on Saturday,” said Bader.
…Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Frank Manzo, an underground utility contractor from Morganville N.J. and owner of the Summit Motorsports Park E.T. and mile per hour records for TAFC, jumped in and operated a backhoe.
…After competition was cancelled Friday evening, crews dug ditches three feet deep on both sides of the track from the finish line at 1,320 feet to 2,000 feet down track, to allow water to drain from underneath the track surface. A series of slices were cut in the track surface from the center of the track outward to the guard walls, to aid in drainage.
…By 3:00 a.m. Saturday the water runoff had slowed significantly from earlier in the evening and was still trickling out at 6:00 a.m. Saturday.
…The number one qualifier in Funny Car, Robert Hight, had this to say about track conditions on Saturday: “The track was fine today. This track is as good as any track in the country…I had the top speed of 309 mph and there was nothing wrong with the track.”
…Funny Car legend John Force on track conditions: “The Bader family is always going to do whatever it takes to put on a show for the fans. They worked all night to give us a good race track and we got all four of our Fords in the show so obviously all the work paid off.”
…Pro Stock driver Warren Johnson, number seven qualifier, on track conditions: “For the most part track conditions were acceptable throughout today…the facility is fine.”
