A Xmas Present for Midwest Riders-BHR Surface

[muz678]

Midwest Riders and Racers receive an Early XMAS present – New Surface at Blackhawk Farms Raceway - On Saturday, November 22, I had the pleasure to join Dave Rosno (Visionsports Riding School Guru), Mike Riebe (Award-Winning Expert Lightweight Racer) and my son, Nick, on a most enjoyable walk around the biggest Xmas present I've ever been able to share with some of my favorite friends- A totally new, smooth, well groomed and gorgeous strip of asphalt that resides about an hour and a half from my home.  BHF has removed the challenging surface that has resided there for over 10 years, while not changing the challenging lines that makes the track so much fun.  
      We all met ~ noon to take the trackwalk from the entrance road thru the complete track layout, and what a great walk it was!  While the weather was cold and windy, a perfectly clear sky gave us an unimpeded view of the glass-like smooth surface that was nearly seamless throughout the entire length of the racing course.   We were laughing out loud at the potential for new suspension settings, new racing lines, and new speed that could be attained in the upcoming season.  We were also able to view evidence of the great effort that this task has taken –the concrete that resided in many of the corners was now in huge piles on the outside of the racing area and destined to be crushed and removed to places that only memories can visit!  
Having experienced the joy of riding smooth tracks and tracks that have had recent resurfacing in the last few years (Talladega GP, Road America, Putnam Park to name a few) I can offer a my fellow racers the dreams of future speedy pleasures on this well-attended Midwest track in the upcoming years. In recent years, I had resided myself to riding on this track often, due to its closeness to my home, with much trepidation. I knew other venues were better surfaced but were not nearly as convenient for a busy person like myself to visit frequently, because they were many more miles and hours away.  In spite of the initial reticence, I have come to truly enjoy the layout, the owners and riders that make up the BHF experience, and now that is has a truly smooth surface to compliment, I am anticipating many restless nights dreaming about the upcoming season.  Hooray!
 :) :) :) :)

[Super Dave]

Yes, the surface was very, very nice.

I was real curious how the seams where the individual pieces of asphalt came together would look. Pretty much seemless.  If you stand over the middle of the track, you can kind of see it, but there is no difference in the actual heights of the surface.

Outside of turn seven (the last corner), there are several piles of dirt.  They will be moving that around so that the low area is now a bit less abrupt if you go off the track.

Turn one has had all the concrete removed.  It's all in a HUGE pile.  

Really, walking around the track made us all pretty excited.

I noticed a mat type of screen underlayment just sticking out of the edge of the track.  After talking with PJ Thornton, one of my instructors, he said that he talked to someone that does road construction.  Apparently, that fabric is only used on the on and off ramps of highways.  It prevents the pavement from buckling under hard acceleration and braking.  It's expensive, very expensive.

Hitchthingie....

It's all really great.  Drainage?  Don't know.  Hard to say.  I guess the thing I could say is that since the track is in much better shape, you have more opportunities to ride around any puddles that might be around the track rather than feeling uncomfortable off line.  Blackhawk is in a low land area as it is.  We didn't realize it until we walked it yesterday, but there is a small creek that goes under the straight before the pit road (now quite a bit longer) and goes under turn five.

Needless, to say, the track looks pretty impressive.

I took some pictures.  I've got to get them developed yet.

[r1owner]

Thanks for the writeup!

Sounds like new lap records all over the place there next year.  8)

I'm looking forward to racing there next year.  Should make at least two weekends at BHF.

[Super Dave]

I think times will come down a little bit, but not like the four second drop that Road America saw when they repaved that place.

Only two times?  Must be more than a couple of miles away.

[Thingy]

Great to hear about the visit.  Weber and I went flying yseterday and had considered flying over there and landing at the runway at the track.  Sounds like we should have come over.

Did the owners reveal any interesting technical information?  I always like to hear that stuff.  Any talk of curing time?  Anything special with the asphalt compound?  Also, I hear the infield is very nice.  Any news on that?

I can't wait to try out the track.  It sounds beautiful.  Good for the track owners.  It sounds like they have done an excellent job and did everything right.  

[Super Dave]

The asphalt is "slag" based, not the polymer stuff.  MAM is a good example of the polymer stuff.  Can have good traction, but it was just coming apart.

The slag stuff is much more durable.  I asked Ray Irwin, the owner and a racer himself, if it would be more durable.  He said it would be a bit more abrasive.  He and I both thought that would help traction in the spring and fall when the track feels a bit more slick.  And on that, I asked him why that was.  He said it was the humidity in the area.  And after seeing the little creek now, I do understand.  

Never noticed the creek, and we've been doing track walks for how long?

[KBOlsen]

Yeah, the deer follow the creek - I've seen them crossing the track at T7, just before sunrise.

[Jeff]

Very interesting indeed...  Dave, do you know of any other "Polymer" tracks to compare this to?  IE, Gingerman seemed VERY abrasive (but well worth it for the traction).

Any thoughts on how long it will take the track to "come in"?  As in, will we be racing on glass this next year because there is no rubber down, or will it be relatively sticky right away?

As everyone else mentioned, HUGE KUDOs goes out to the BHF owners!  Even more so if they keep the gate fees and test day fees the same :-)

[Super Dave]

I think the track will be better in Spring than it is usually in spring.

Polymer based asphalts....

MAM and Heartland Park Topeka immediately come to mind.

And additionally, it appears that CCS is taking my Thursday's that I have scheduled with BFR for their "Sport Rider Days".

If I did anything for your programs, it might be worth while dropping them a note.

[Dawn]

Hey Dave:

I noticed from the WERA board that you were able to post some pictures of the newly repaived BHF on the Chicagoland BBS.  

Any chance of posting them here?

I would love to share them with Paul and Renee, but some of the language on the other BBS isn't appropriate for a 10 year old.

Thanks!

Dawn   :)

[harb990]

Dawn

Here is a link to some pictures of the repaving on the BHF website

http://www.blackhawkfarms.com/repaving/repaving.htm

[Dawn]

Harb:

Thanks.  BHF has added more since the last time I checked.  

Dave has some pictures of the surface now that it is completely done.  They were very good quality pictures.

Dawn