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NHMS track changes
For those of you racing in the NER double this weekend you will all find out soon enough the changes that were made to the track, but here's a little preview. I was there today for a COM event and the construction work in the infield has changed several things on & off the track.
- South Chicane (sup's note that Sunday will race on this configuration) - They have reworked the turn 1 portion of this, added curbs on both inside & outside of the turn. The apex is much further around than before (similar to how it was when the track was first built). Instead of it being a 90 degree +/- turn it is now more than 90 deg. Me thinks this will cause lap times to be lower, this new first part seemed to make the right hand part difficult to work. New pavement in this area which gets pretty slick in the wet.
- North chicane - they buried something in the track after track out (before the timing tower) and did a not so good job of blending the new & old asphalt so now there is another bump you have to drive over. Not a big deal in the dry, but unsettling in the wet.
- Infield - No more spectator area at turns 3/10. The infield road goes right past, tight to the concrete wall that is on the outside of turn 3, new road elevation is lower than the track so you can't see anything. Bleachers are moved way up to the upper part of the turn 3 braking zone. For today at least the corner workers stood behind the barricade at the end of the brake zone (next to the escape chute).
- 90% of the infield grass is now gravel. About the only grass left is from the tunnels to where the road course comes inside of the NASCAR back straight.
Its not likely I'll be there this weekend so I will be curious to hear how these changes affected the races.
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No grass in on the infield = no camping?
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With only one week since the mad scramble to get the infield ready for NASCAR the grass is not complete. There is however plenty of grass to the right coming out of the tunnel, more than enough for tents.
South chicane will probably not be used this weekend but, it's not me that makes the final decission.
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mickey no like... no stands at 3/10, south chicance will be slower... ouch.
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Spinning racecars for lunch anyone?
Not the proximity of the track in the south chicane to the picnic tables and the big thick chainlink fence,
Also, is 3 different now?
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I really doubt that we will be using the south chicane this weekend, but then again that is not my call.
Three should be the same on the track, just the flag placement and the stands at the braking point.
