I am fairly new to carpet racing and currently running in the 17.5/4 cell class. The track is a 160' flat carpet and there are 6 different class per night. The tire compound is Jack the Gripper

By the end of the 2 round of races, the track has a lot of compound on it. My lap times have dropped off (.2-.3) per lap, is there some changes that I need to make to chassis to offset the drop in times??

Are you cleaning your tires after every race?

Are you cleaning your tires after every race?

Yes with alchol (denat) and a brush

Paul

Try a harder RR tire if you can get a away with it. If you run a white RR try a gray/white or gray or even a black etc. Or reduce the amount of traction compound or don't use any at all. 17.5 are not that powerful of a motor and the track sounds like it isn't a bull ring so rear grip should not be an issue. I run 13.5 which another low power motor and I have not put any traction compound on RR & RF and just wiped my tire rag on the left side before.

Try a harder RR tire if you can get a away with it. If you run a white RR try a gray/white or gray or even a black etc. Or reduce the amount of traction compound or don't use any at all. 17.5 are not that powerful of a motor and the track sounds like it isn't a bull ring so rear grip should not be an issue. I run 13.5 which another low power motor and I have not put any traction compound on RR & RF and just wiped my tire rag on the left side before.

Thanks for the input, I will try no compound next Saturday.

Paul,
That is certainly an issue. I have consistently found the track to get faster each round up till the main. Times seem to slow a couple hundredths then. My cars seem best when they are just a hair loose before the heats start. If I have it balanced or a hair tight before the heats, I find it tight and slow in the heats. You should be able to run the same tires and JTG application that we are using in 13.5. I took the tires off that I won with a couple weeks ago and put them on William Turners 17.5 car and turned 4.3's right out of the box. Shoot me an email if you have any specific questions.

could be something as simple as reducing your tweak a couple clicks on the scale each round to compensate for the increased track bite. that is what I would always do on banked. Say I started at 13.2 oz of LR weight in practice, by main time, I'd be more like 12.2 oz of LR weight.

Watch your right rear tire wear cause if you get to much destagger the car can get tight and slows down.

Thank everyone for their input. I have a big race this weekend and will get the opportunity to put some of the great advise to test

Paul

Try a half oz less on the left rear. Thats what G Honey and I do. I take like 2 to 3 tenths off the left rear b4 each round.

Ritchie Mac
Silva Concepts
Express Motorsports
Killer Koncepts
Finish Line
Windtunnel
Murdock Tires

Jim, Do me a favor, ask William Turner if he used to race in Macon GA. We used to have a guy that was stationed here from NC by that name and when he got out of the Air Force we kinda lost touch. Thanks Clifford Kline