Pitting Outside At I-55?

qwaynick

qwaynick

The Original Q
I'm curious how thing went outside the track last night? Was it a tight fit? Seemed to me like it went well from the track side. Not such a traffic jam on the infield. I may not have the popular opinion about this, but I really wish this is how things were done every week. I know the track officials and fans on the infield must have enjoyed having all that space to work, walk, and view the track. Not to mention that the only place Mike couldn't see was turn two just behind the concession building. Obviously this move would be possible or it wouldn't have been done last night. If space was tight there are options. Like I've said before, move the fence on the old drag strip fill in the ditch, cover it with some dirt and gravel and the place nearly doubles in size. Ok, I'm done, now everyone can complain. LOL!

Couple of other things to note. I'm excited to hear about the new "additional" Musco lighting being installed on the infield. That place will be lit up like a baseball stadium soon. The new suite on the front stretch looks like it's gonna be real nice. Glad to see construction has finally began on it as I'm sure the weather has played a roll in that project. And lastly, I haven't seen anyone talk about this but I'm sure there has been discussion. The P.A. system and new speakers at I-55 this year are simply amazing! I love where I-55 is going, and I hope it doesn't end there.

Oh, almost forgot! How about that track prep? Track was freaking awesome last night before and after then rain! Great job to Ray and the crew. The place is looking fantastic!
 
Q, I Understand Why They Did It With The Threat Of Rain And All. But, It Sux Point Blank! I Like To Watch The Races Just As Much As The Fans In The Stands. So To Be Outside With The Car Takes Away Some Of The Watching You Get To Do.
 
Wow! I agree with everything you said. Many great improvements, the track was bad fast, and the unobstructed view of the track was awesome. Good post!
 
PITDRIFTER said:
Q, I Understand Why They Did It With The Threat Of Rain And All. But, It Sux Point Blank! I Like To Watch The Races Just As Much As The Fans In The Stands. So To Be Outside With The Car Takes Away Some Of The Watching You Get To Do.
Click to expand...
Sorry, PITDRIFTER. I never thought of it from your perspective. If I was in the pits, I wouldn't want to miss all the action; especially with the track being so fast last night.
 
from the stands, it was great. you never missed a thing...and the track seemed so much bigger than usual.
 
Here is an interesting fact(if your interested in such stuff)
Each light tower put out about 90,000 watts of light OR the same as 900(yes that 900)100 watt bulbs
I'm the camera guy on top of the tower and I can tell you those new lights have and will make the track look MUCH better on tv
My camera runs about 1/2 to 1 stop smaller since the lights were added
Rick Riebeling
Producer
St.Louis Motorsports Review
 
i thought it wasnt bad being parked outside, except for not getting to watch all the other races but that is part of being involved with a car. i thought the view from the infield was great, it reminded me of watchin at volusia. they need to figure out the scales though, because when i pulled out to scale i had 3 tires on the back of my car. if they had people parking outside it would make a 4 wheeler almost necessary
 
The inner pit area allow drivers to quickly pull in and change a tire or other repairs, and get back on the track. I think it makes for better racing.
 
i55

why dont i55 post on thier webb site payout from top to bottom for all classes.not what they did pay out for a race but what it is all the time.:confused:
 
I understand the views from the drivers/crews stand point. Missing things that happen on the track and such. But really, that wouldn't make I-55 much different from the other tracks around this area. Belleville being a slight exception but for just one class of cars.

As for the ability to change tires or make repairs, in most cases the crews just can't make the change quick enough. Look at Dixon last night. His crew was on the infield which was completely open and free of obstruction and they didn't have time to get him out for the restart. If anything, allowing teams to come onto the infield during their drivers race and have the entire area to get in and out is a benefit to the drivers and crews. Sure, it's an extra step to get equipment and such down there, but like I said before, most other tracks have similar arrangements. And some it's just plain impossible to do.

To address Brad's issue of walking from the barn, which I have done several times over the years, that's where my idea to expand the pit area onto the old drag strip would play perfectly into this scenario. The pit area wouldn't be much larger than say TCS or any other track in the area. Walking to the track wouldn't be much of a task if the drivers and crews didn't have to walk around the back side of the old drag strip to get to the other side of the fence.

Given the pros and cons of the situation I can't see where the cons would outweigh the pros by any means. Having the outer pit area exclusively for all teams will make for a safer environment on the track where track workers and safety crews can do their jobs with little if any impedment. It should also allow the track to race more often when they would otherwise have been rained out, such as last night had the cars not already been outside. And it provides a unobstructed view of the track for all the fans in the stands not to mention announcers and safety crews.

The only downfalls are that crews would have to walk to the stands to watch the races, which currently half the teams do now anyway, and with a little improvement in the pit area wouldn't be bad anyway. And crews which choose to make tire changes and repairs during their race would need to take equipment and supplies to the infield hot pit area, similar to what nearly every other track in the immediate area has to do now.

One other point to make is during qualifying for special shows like last night there would be more space for cars to move to the infield. And imagine what that will do for shows like the sprintcars!

To me, it just makes sense. And I don't mean to offend anyone with my views. Just something that has been on my mind for a long, long time and I think the track would benefit greatly from making the move.

One last thing. I'm waiting patiently for the day when I-55 invests in a scoring system and scoreboard. I'm sure those scorers had their hands full during that latemodel feature. Let the computer do that hard stuff and let the girls hands rest. I for one wouldn't want their job!

Once again, great job to the I-55 Raceway staff for making STL racefans some of the luckiest in the Country! Keep up the great work!
 
Oh, Jimmy Cummins scale issue. Almost forgot. A setup similar to what KLMS has on the infield would certainly address any problems there. I believe that I-55 scales all cars though so that might be an issue. I think KLMS only scales the top 3 cars after each race. But I'm sure there is a solution for that with a little effort put forth.
 
I thought it extremely ****ed.....The one great thing I always like about Pevely is the fact that we can pit on the infield.....That makes it unlike an other track in the area. There doesn't ever seem to be any safety incidents that I can remember. I would be against making some of the larger trailers pit outside....that wouldn't be bad. What ****ed saturday night was, I paid $30 to watch the races also. Like a fellow driver said saturday, "I'm a race fan first, then a driver". What was worse for me, the sportsmans hardly got to watch any of the late models, since our class followed theirs. What did I pay my $30 for, to watch the Late Models.

But anyways, who am I, just a poor racer...:)

Tim Hollerbach
 
Pittin Outside

I agree. Would have liked to seen a lot more of the action. Hard to do from outside near the barn. Hard to hear the PA also. I think one of the things that makes I55 stand out is the ability to pit on the infield. We make it a point to get there early every week so that we can pit inside. I understand why they did what they did this week - hopefully the weather will cooperate in the future. Great work on the track prep - It was BAD FAST!!!!
 
Well, I just could not let this one go by without commenting. It did look different from the stands Saturday night. I guess I'm used to ole Lake Hill Speedway, and Belle Clair. I like to see what is going on in the pits, the action of all the drivers working on their cars to get ready for the next race. Being a Mom I like to keep track of my sons crew, etc. All you mothers know what I mean. Most of the time I know what is happening by where the jack is put.

It was a great night of racing and after the rains came and when Mr. Marler got out there himself on the green monster to set the pace the track became smoother and faster.

Mr. Marler, I hope you never take the cars out of the infield. It would be an injustice to all the drivers and crews who spend their money at your race track each week.
 
Ok, I love going to Pevely, but last Saturday blew. Like others have said,Wade and I paid $60 to watch one of the best nights of late model races and all we could do was faintly hear the PA. It was a long walk back and forth, and there was definitely not enough portapotties back there!!! There was a chance of rain all week and Ray had to know he was going to be pitting everyone outside, so why not move some of them from the infield to out past the pit shack where most of your weekly guys were pitted?? Just a little aggravating. We drive 45 mintues to an hour every Saturday just because we can pit inside, that's part of what makes Pevely fun. If we have to pit outside every week, we may as well drive the 5 minutes to Belleville. Just my two cents.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.




Back
Top