As an old salt guy (not an old dirt track guy) the point of the loose wet
salt layer on top of hard salt is RIGHT ON. That's one of the reasons we
see ruts. The slurry of water and salt is far to viscous and dense for
normal rain tires to move out of the way, while a narrow treadless tire has
more "squish". Bonneville tire builders such as Firestone figured this out
a long time ago.
Dave the Hayseed
----- Original Message -----
From: "Albaugh, Neil" <albaugh_neil@ti.com>
To: "'Glen Barrett'" <speedtimer@charter.net>; "Dan Warner"
<dwarner@electrorent.com>; "land speed" <land-speed@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 5:23 PM
Subject: RE: GT40 spinner
> Glen;
>
> You've brought up a good point-- perhaps it is a loose salt (dust) layer
on
> top of the hard salt that is the problem instead of water. If this is the
> case, the higher unit loading (pounds per square inch of tire contact area
> on the surface) of a narrow tire could possibly get a better "grip" on the
> solid underlying layer of salt than a wider one one that only skated
across
> the loose surface.
>
> You may have something there. I recall that in the early days of the
Pikes'
> Peak hillclimb, cars using narrower tires seemed to get a better grip in
the
> loose gravel surface. I guess they simply dug themselves a groove in the
> gravel rather than slide sideways across the top. Maybe something similar
is
> happening on the salt?
>
> If something won't work, it won't work. I would like to understand why,
> though. As the old saying goes "If theory and observation do not agree,
> double check your observations-- and if they are correct, come up with a
new
> theory."
>
> Are there any dirt- track guys out there who would care to comment?
>
> Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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