Fairbury Tires

[blncfn57]

Another big show at Fairbury and another mention of the tires being pushed back out. When do they stake them down to avoid this issue?

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Another big show at Fairbury and another mention of the tires being pushed back out. When do they stake them down to avoid this issue?

Who whined about the tires?

[zooker25]

Unzinger did

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Unzinger did

Then bump them as they did before.

[golddirt]

who is unzinger?

[zooker25]

thanks hygty! Last thing I want to do is misspell a name on here!

[cdustyr1]

he did not really whine about just mentioned he was gaining a line until they got moved back out, he raced Fairbury enough to know they get moved back during cautions, and are now marked so the get put back where they started.

[427c.i.]

I've never understood why FALS makes such a big deal about moving those tires and the controversy they continue to cause. Look at it this way, over the course of a 50 lap feature, the track can go through all kinds of changes. The cushion can change, certain grooves can slow down or speed up, tracks can slick off...etc. etc. etc. What's the big deal if the tires are bumped and aren't in the exact original spots from when the race starts?
They don't go water the track or grade the cushion during the course of the feature, why keep jacking with those tires?
Like I said, all kinds of conditions change during the course of a feature, why are those tires any different? Put them in place at the beginning of each race and whatever happens, happens.

[Barbecueboy]

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Josh Bayko]

They should just rid of the tires and have a thick berm or wall on the inside. They can't be moved. I know, I know, that's never going to happen.

One thing, though, how come the only people that ever whine about the tires are drivers from that region? They have raced there dozens of times, they know the drill.

[shaferz]

On the contrary - I'm not sure I understand the vitriol around some of the guys complaining about the tires being pushed back out to their original positions.

This isn't rocket science folks. If the tires get bumped in, FALS staff moves them back out at the next caution/race stoppage. There is nothing new about this. In the interview I saw with Unzicker on DoD - it didn't sound like he was complaining at all. It sounded like he knew the tires were bumped in multiple times far enough that he was able to get some grab down there. He just said that he knew once the tires were moved back out - he was going to have to figure something else out.

I'm neither for, nor against the tires. From my perspective of sitting in the stands - I'm fine with them. The drivers can 'feel' if they arent in the right spot. If they are able to take advantage of a little fresh dirt, then so be it - but they shouldn't chastise (and I do not believe Unzicker did) the track for moving the tires back when an opportunity to do so arises.

[blncfn57]

I wasn't saying that anyone was complaining. I was just asking a question.

[shaferz]

I'm assuming a berm won't ever happen - without reconfiguring the track - rain water wouldn't drain off the racing surface. Pretty sure the track is cut in a way that water runs down to just off of the low racing groove.

IMO, FALS is great the way that it is. I hope the track configuration and layout never changes. The tires haven't stopped multiple DoD Race of the Year awards (3 now...) from being tossed in FALS direction. Chew on that one for a bit

[Highside Hustler25]

Their is something about Fairbury that when the tires get pushed in, the bottom becomes the fastest way around the track. A lot faster!
Most guys that have been there before know this. I.ve seen races in the past where the tires get pushed way in and the race stays green so they never get put back. Track becomes 1 lane on the bottom. The Fairbury officials know what they're doing. They've seen it all.
I remember one year when Jimmy Mars had a 1/2 lap or better lead on 2nd place Rodney Melvin? I think it was, and Melvin ran the hub. The tires were in so far that it looked like Melvin was coming to a stop in the corners. He made up that 1/2 lap in no time and won.
Moral to the story is, let those tires get shoved in to far and you'll have follow the leader on the bottom. NO GOOD.

[427c.i.]

I am not contesting the wonderful job that goes on at FALS, It's nice to have that gem as a local venue.

I do think there are some valid points about setting the tires at the beginning of the race and if they get moved a bit, it's part of the show. The race between Unzicker and Babb was one heckuva race, two cars side by side duking it out! Why would you change one cars line because a caution came out? Unzicker was decent in the middle but I thought the name of the game was to PROMOTE side by side action, not possibly deter it.
Cars risking their equipment by nudging those tires in under speed is akin to drivers risking their stuff running against the wall, one wrong move and it could be over. They don't make the cushion farther from the wall under caution, why alter the bottom?
I honestly think that by slowly giving the cars the bottom, it helps keep the racing grooves even throughout a race.
As a final thought, if that little patch of dirt on the bottom of the racetrack helps put on the kind of racing we saw Saturday night, don't keep drivers from finding it and working for it, PROMOTE THE HECK OUT OF IT!!!

[Highside Hustler25]

Probably a moisture thing. Damp racing groove protected by the tires that gets unleashed when the tires get hockey puck pushed in.

Exactly. They've been doing / trying it for years.

[cdustyr1]

I am not contesting the wonderful job that goes on at FALS, It's nice to have that gem as a local venue.

I do think there are some valid points about setting the tires at the beginning of the race and if they get moved a bit, it's part of the show. The race between Unzicker and Babb was one heckuva race, two cars side by side duking it out! Why would you change one cars line because a caution came out? Unzicker was decent in the middle but I thought the name of the game was to PROMOTE side by side action, not possibly deter it.
Cars risking their equipment by nudging those tires in under speed is akin to drivers risking their stuff running against the wall, one wrong move and it could be over. They don't make the cushion farther from the wall under caution, why alter the bottom?
I honestly think that by slowly giving the cars the bottom, it helps keep the racing grooves even throughout a race.
As a final thought, if that little patch of dirt on the bottom of the racetrack helps put on the kind of racing we saw Saturday night, don't keep drivers from finding it and working for it, PROMOTE THE HECK OUT OF IT!!!

I know they still take a risk bumping them but most of the regulars have extra strength in that corner of the car to move those tires.

[Highside Hustler25]

Watched a guy in the hornet class in Peoria tonight flat run over a uke tire and ran like 5 more laps and finished the race. Dude had air coming over it.