Posted this in the track discussion area. Was suggested I put it up in the Dirt section.

We are in the process of building our 40 x 80 indoor clay offroad track. My question is this. If we were to lay the track out so that it is a 40 x 80 oval with an offroad infield, would there be any interest in running an oval program during the winter months?

Thoughts, input, suggestions?

John

Hopefully this would be on Friday nite or Saturday sometime!!

Either of those could be made to work. Our offroad program currently runs on Sundays and we are planning on keeping it there.

oh please yes! can you say brushless mini slider? im building one now and your track would be the closest to me

We ran mostly 1/18 scale trucks and buggies indoors last winter. I am thinking the Losi will make a great class for oval. Spec/box stock and anything goes.

Would you consider nitro cars for your indoor track. We are running nitro TC3's dirt outlaw late models here in the Muskegon/Fruitport area. That would be a blast to have something like this to do in the winter.

Kevin

Unfortunately, we lease space from an indoor roller hockey arena and our space is not completely sealed off to their space. There are walls, but they do not go floor to ceiling. Running nitro would require a significant investment to seal the area and install proper ventilation and neither ourselves nor the landlord is in a position to make those kind of improvements.

As much as we would like to run nitro it has to be electric only for now.

Kevin,
Can you say DOMINATOR, say it, DOM-IN-A-TOR! or TC3/TC4 if you wish. Late Model baby! Don't for get Electric Sprints, Kev.

Count me in Tdevil. I can't get enough of that oval stuff.
The Slider is awesome. We had one of those and a 18T out last race with a Sprint car body and wing on it and they ran sweet!

Duke

Sounds like we have nothing to lose by setting the track up so it can run both offroad and oval.

The Losi sprints look awesome. The review in Car Action this last issue was very positive. Thinking the Associated 18R road cars could also be great oval material.

Looks like the track will have 10 ft wide lanes and be 80 ft end to end and 40 ft side to side. I think that is approximately 200 ft centerline around the oval.

Duke, from what I have seen and heard of your oval, I will have to have you give me some tips on smooooothing it out!!!!

John

Not a problem John!
You can also contact me at 231-750-1181 and or proscalerc@hotmail.com

I will be there if at all possible.

sounds sweet lets get it going

John,
When do you think you will have the surface ready for Late Models and Sprints?

Goal is to have the indoor track up and running by the end of this month, September. We need to install some emergency lighting, replace a door and get the clay in and down. Should happen about the time that the outdoor season will be winding down.

John

So, how far along are you on getting the clay down? There are a lot of guys waiting to see the track so we can decide what to build for the racing season, hopefully it will accomodate 1/10 scale late models but we won't know for sure until we can get a look at it!!!

Glad to hear that there is some significant interest. Not quite there on the clay yet. I am thinking the weekend of the 21st as a goal. I will post when we are working on it and any help in putting it down will be appreciated. Anyone that wants to stop on out I can show you where the track will be and you can get a better idea of the size seeing it in person.

John

how about a map or address to your track

Visit our website: www.battlefrontgaming.com

We are in the northwest corner of the old Dryland Marina building which now houses Rivertown Sports roller hockey. We lease space from the hockey operation.

just fin building my mini slider its realy fun and looks awsome cant wait till the clay is down

I don't know how you are going to put that much clay down in that short of a time and get everything right, including the oval to be smooth as carpet.. You must have plenty of heavy equiptment and lots of manpower and large garage doors and a tall ceiling so you can get dump trailers in there to deliver in good quantity. seems to me that l0 guys would have to work 24/7 to be ready in time!!!

Time will tell. It will be done as soon as we can get it done. This is not my full time job, I teach for Grand Rapids and the start of school has really slowed things down as far as getting things done here at the store.

Only putting about 1 to 2 inches of clay over the whole surface. Looking at about 20 to 25 yards. We moved 10 yards of topsoil out of the building with a garden tractor and a scoop and 2 wheelbarrows in 4 hours.

John

Clay is going down Saturday starting around 10 a.m. If you have nothing better to do and would like to give a hand we have plenty of shovels, rakes tractors and compactors. Come on out!!!!!

John

May stop in on our way to Fruitport. Will you still be there around 4:00pm?

We are here. I think my son got here a bit after 4 today due to traffic. Sorry if we missed you.

John

Thanks for stopping by today on your way to Duke's guys.

We have clay down and I worked really hard to make the oval as smooth as possible. Time will tell I guess. Don't have any of the infield done for off road yet, but we may be able to run the oval as early as next weekend.

Stop out and at least take a look at what we have if you are in the area.

John

Yes we stopped by and it did not take Greg or myself long to say (the dirt cars are not going on the shelf yet. I was very impressed with the track. It looks like it is going to be great. Keep us posted on your race schedule and we will try and make it over. Looks good!

Ok, time to bring something out and take a few laps around the track. We need help with what can run on the track to begin putting some classes together for oval.

We are setting things up so we can run both oval and off road. We need a decent turnout for oval to make changing it back and forth worth the effort.

Thinking Saturday evening for oval. Would like to even try something this coming weekend on the 13th.

Let's get a discussion of classes going and if Saturday evening works.

John

Possible Classes

1/18

4wd Sedan Latemodel

2wd Latemodel

Sprint Car

Truck

John
The indoor oval is comming along fine.But one thing are you going to try and smooth it out more? I know that the more we run on it the smoother it will become we just need more people to come out and work the track surface and smooth it out > My B4 has no problem running on and from what I've seen the mini sliders are going to be a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!! .When do you thing you will start raceing on I'm ready to go.I still say rubbin is raceing

My real job has really gotten in the way this week. Tonight is the first time I have been out to the store since Sunday evening. I am hoping to get the infield down and the area cleared of extra lumber etc. over the weekend. Then we can get some firm race dates started.

Everyone is welcome to come out and run around on what is done so far and check it out.

John

We have had a few more come out and run different cars on the oval. Losi Sliders work very well right out of the box. TC3 works well if you soften up the suspension a bit, maybe even longer shock shafts for a bit more travel. Rubber treaded tires seem to hook very well. Of course trucks and buggies don't even notice any imperfections.

OUR FIRST OVAL RACE WILL BE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20. RACING WILL START AT 5:00. We will run 3 heats and the mains. We open at 10 a.m. so you can come as early as that if you want. Planning on making Saturday nights oval night for the winter.

Race fee is $12 and covers practice before and/or after racing. Let's get some talk going about who is coming and what you will be running. Will give us a chance to get some classes somewhat sorted out before Saturday.

John

one possibly 2 1/18ths brushless one is a slider and a 2wdmod for the oval

Some pictures of the track as it stands tonight:

10th scale associated B4 5800 brushless stock body so far. Lowered and locked and ready to rock on the oval. Are you ready to rumbel.I've been at this since the clay was put down i'm not the fastes but i'll will give all of you a run for your money .Turn left and run what you brung and hope you brung enough

John,
Is the oval smooth enough for Late Models? TC3, Dominator, Sprint cars, that type of car?

Duke

Yeah Duke, the track is smooth enough for late models. It isn't carpet smooth, but I ran a TC3 late model on it and it did ok. You just need to get your ride height up a bit and keep it relatively soft.

What kind of tires were you running on it, were they foam or some kind of rubber?

I believe he ended up running rubber rally tires. Someone else was out running the HPI soft Pirelli rally tires and they were hooked up big time. Foam has been tried, but rubber with some tread seems to provide the best traction.

John

Yes, I did run rally tires, the HPI Pirellis. They are a couple of years old, but I believe they started out as softs. Still hooked up pretty well and showed almost no wear after about 4 packs worth of running. I think a foam tire w/ some grooves may work okay, especially if you get some with a high rubber content like Jaco Nitro Shoes or GQ's. Finding the right foam may take some experimentation. (Experimentation = MONEY:() As for me, I think I'll stick with the rally tires.

We are still planning on Friday night "run what you brung" on the oval and Saturday night organized oval program.

Hope to see you all out soon,

John

Guy's I cannot make it this week but are you running next Friday night?

Just built a car for your track, but can't make it this weekend either, maybe next weekend if I have gotten a Deer by then, kinda conflicts with bow season!!

The first official oval race has been run. We had 4 trucks/buggies.

My son and I have picked up Losi Sliders. All we need are a couple of more to get a class going. We would like to start with box stock. No changes period except for battery. Everyone that has seen them and driven them is impressed with their out of the box performance.

Let's shoot for 15 entries next week. A class of trucks/buggies, a class of Sliders and a class of late models. And we wouldn't complain if we have 2 heats in each class or around 30 entries.

Off-road tomorrow (Sunday) on the indoor track. Doors open at 10 a.m., racing starts at 1:30.

John

Sorry I haven't been in the thread for a couple of days. We did plan on racing oval tonight, but just didn't get enough of a turnout.

I know the oval is not perfect and is a little rough, but Sliders and trucks and buggies love it.

Let's try again next Saturday.

John

you should throw a post up on dirtoval.com, might help draw some more cars, there arent a whole lot of michigan people on dirtoval but any exposure helps!

also whats the runline?

what are the records for the oval so far?

Unfortunately, we have only had one night of oval so far and that was with about 5 trucks and buggies. Didn't have enough of anything this past Saturday to run.

Until we start getting a decent turnout, there really are no records.

Come on, where are the Sliders, I know people have them. I know people are talking about getting them. Instead of waiting for someone else to buy one, just get one and come on out.

Again, I know it is not the perfect surface, but I hope I didn't make a mistake in trying to draw an oval crowd that doesn't exist. Not giving up on it, but I thought there was more interest.

John

John,

When we were looking at the rink for possibilies, we should have tried the late model 4wd on there with the rubber tires, I never even thought of it, but it may work!!

couple of us love dirt oval down here in coldwater mi we'll be up on saturdays after the 10th of nov thats the last sat we hav to work so hang in there

Yup, hanging in there. Racing tonight at 5. Would be nice to have at least some trucks/buggies and some Sliders out.

John

Edit: The 4 1/2 foot tall driver's stand is ready for use.