Soot on track affecting traction?

Michael

Michael

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At the recent NADM/Diesel Specialists race in Orlando we ended up with a very slippery track first round, especially in the left lane. Granted, it was VERY cold for that area (and probably beyond anything the local track crew has had to prep for), but we ended up with a track that seemed more slick than an unprepped street. I talked to the track crew about it on Sunday (while waiting out the rain), and their theory was that the soot from the trucks was settling back on the track and causing the slick conditions. They said there was nothing obvious spilled on the track, but it was just overall very slippery. Has anyone else heard of this? I probably race as many diesel races as anyone these days, and I have not seen this as an issue. There WERE some 6.0L's racing. Not pointing fingers, but maybe it was some coolant spray ;)
 
Well all I can say is it is an interesting theory.
 
Micheal is was nice to meet you this past weekend. I dont believe that soot on the track is why it was slick. I was one of the first trucks to make a pass and my truck slid nearly sideways. It was extremely cold (in the 30s) and there just werent enough cars making passes to keep it warmed up. Then you take the lack of cars there with slick tires and there was NO good rubber on the track. I believe that is one reason why the slick tire vehicles have a hard time hooking at diesel events is because the number of vehicles with street tires greatly out numbers the vehicles with slick tires. All the street tires do is "tear" up the track.
 
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I think the track crew knew the right hand lane was a lot better than the left, seeing as how they ran most all of the "fast" cars on that side.
 
I would assume soot could change traction conditions the same as sand or any other fine particle can. I'd say that's why a lot of tracks make you run turn-ups on the exhaust. That being said, cold and prep probably have just as much of an effect.
 
One more thing - they had apparently done a full track scraping a couple of weeks before that, but had several rainouts (so we were on a pretty "green" track).

The track guys were wondering if they needed to require exhaust up-turns or stacks. On Sunday morning the track was hooking just fine after 1st time run. I was the first car down the track in the left lane, and it seemed a tiny bit slippery but otherwise MUCH better than Friday night. I was in a different vehicle (in this case a FWD Chevy Malibu), but I hooked a lot better on the track than I did on the dead-end street near the track ;)
 
syrupdawg said:
Micheal is was nice to meet you this past weekend. I dont believe that soot on the track is why it was slick. I was one of the first trucks to make a pass and my truck slid nearly sideways. It was extremely cold (in the 30s) and there just werent enough cars making passes to keep it warmed up. Then you take the lack of cars there with slick tires and there was NO good rubber on the track. I believe that is one reason why the slick tire vehicles have a hard time hooking at diesel events is because the number of vehicles with street tires greatly out numbers the vehicles with slick tires. All the street tires do is "tear" up the track.
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BIngo.

A cold, and apparantly green track, will have you seeing the wall through the windshield in no time.

They wont' let us race in Houston if the track temps get below 50, but it's slippery before the temps gets that low.
 
"green" scraped track, cold with wind, and sand. Common sence says you aint getting traction... soot has little to do with it.
 
There was something on that track, and it wasn't soot. Myself and every gas car I watched after, lost it at the exact same spot. I ran the lane earlier and had no traction problems, next time down with a stock HP truck and spun like it was on ice.
 
Yup, I spun in the same spot as Rob, also with a slower truck in 2WD. The fact that they couldn't find a "trail" of stuff spilled could have just meant it was something that was sprayed out of a car or truck. That seems to be an inherent danger of night races, it can be tough to see stuff on the track.
 
I have always wondered about the vent tube on the diesels causing the track to get slick. I think they all should have to have a catch can to be able to race.JMO
 
I've heard the same thing at a few tracks. Famoso raceway (Bakersfield, CA) mentioned that to me the last time the division 7 bracket finals were there. They were more curious about it then anything. After watching me make a few passes, they decided the truck was much cleaner then most of the gas car that ran. :)

I think for the most part it's the lack of understanding of something pretty new. I try to spend as much time addressing concerns by track officials as I can.

Oh, BTW my 02 does have a puke tank, and not the factory one. The common rails have a pretty good one built in. If the drain tube is more then just damp on a common rail, then you better look at fixing the problem. Even on my 02, I may only get 3 or 4 drops of oil out of the puke tank when I drain it after a weekend of racing.

Paul
 
Michael said:
At the recent NADM/Diesel Specialists race in Orlando we ended up with a very slippery track first round, especially in the left lane. Granted, it was VERY cold for that area (and probably beyond anything the local track crew has had to prep for), but we ended up with a track that seemed more slick than an unprepped street. I talked to the track crew about it on Sunday (while waiting out the rain), and their theory was that the soot from the trucks was settling back on the track and causing the slick conditions. They said there was nothing obvious spilled on the track, but it was just overall very slippery. Has anyone else heard of this? I probably race as many diesel races as anyone these days, and I have not seen this as an issue. There WERE some 6.0L's racing. Not pointing fingers, but maybe it was some coolant spray ;)
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and just what are you trying to say Mike:blahblah1:
 
Soot on the track is a wives-tail created by haters from the gasser crowd. ...nothing more.
Orlando was unusually damp that night, almost foggy. That, combined with the unusually cold temp. certainly created most of the track issues.
I made a good pass early in the right lane, but got completely loose 60' out in the left lane later in the eve. Watching the other passes in the left, I am inclined to agree that there was contamination of some type over there.

hummin cummins said:
I have always wondered about the vent tube on the diesels causing the track to get slick. I think they all should have to have a catch can to be able to race.JMO
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Much as I hate to say it, that may be a valid concern.
 
As slick as the track was in that spot, I'm inclined to think it was a fine spray of coolant or trans fluid, whether from a diesel or a gasser. In my gasser once it boiled over the trans fluid while going down the track, and sprayed a fine mist that the track's spotter did not see, but was slippery as heck. I would imagine that a spray of coolant could do the same thing.

To be fair to 6.0L's, the last major track cleanup I saw from sprayed coolant (at least it was water) was from a Dodge/Cummins ;)
 
Although I wasn't in Orlando, I have been told this by many people in the gasser world. If I am one of the only diesels at the track they tend to make a big deal out of it. When I was running the drag and brag series at Texas Motor Speedway, I had a few complaints about it from the hot-rod crowd saying "That smoke is blowing raw fuel and oil out the pipe onto OUR track." (This is probably the case knowing my truck LOL) The track didn't have any VHT on it anyhow. It was a raw assfault pit road......... LOL

I always tell them this isn't the case but often wondered.
 
I have made MANY passes in DirtyMax right behind a ton of Super-Street and Pro Street trucks, most of which were dumping tons of smoke. I have never seen a problem with traction unless it was already crappy (like 140° track temps). The times I have seen traction problems it was usually from 4x4 trucks dropping mud chunks on the launch.
 
Someone in the bracket class did have coolant leaking bad.They left a puddle in line 4. It wasn't a 6 leaker but a Dodge. THATS RIGHT! A DODGE!!!!
 
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