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Charlotte's Dirt Track Gets New Surface
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Racers planning to compete during the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte next month will be greeted by a new racing surface at the four-tenths-mile clay oval.
Following the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series event held at the facility in May, track officials decided to resurface most of the track prior to the November 6-8 World Finals.
“It got to the point over the years that it was necessary. We’ve gotten some low points in the track. We were down to the footers of the concrete wall, which really limited our ability to prep the track correctly,” said Matt Greci, director of events for Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We were so low on clay levels that there wasn’t a lot we could do depth wise about getting moisture in the track and properly constructing it for a race.”
The clay came from the same location as the track’s original dirt, a piece of land located behind Charlotte Motor Speedway that Greci called Morehead Farms.
Approximately 1500 to 1700 yards of dirt was transported from the Morehead Farms location to The Dirt Track at Charlotte as part of the resurfacing project.
Greci said samples of the new dirt as well as the old dirt were sent to a lab in California to help ensure the combination of the two would provide a workable track surface.
“We work with a company out in California to help us see where our pH levels are, our soil content, all of that,” Greci said. “We sent out samples based on the new stuff, the stuff we’ve got on the track, what the best scenario is for us to get it in and then we work it from there. We use them pretty much every year so we can find out basically where we are with the pH levels, calcium, and all those levels. He gives us a good range of where we are and where we should be.”
Gary Risch, who serves as the general manager of Pennsylvania’s Lernerville Speedway, led a team of workers who prepared the new dirt once it was laid on the track. Risch and his crew have done the track prep at The Dirt Track at Charlotte the past three years.
Following the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series event held at the facility in May, track officials decided to resurface most of the track prior to the November 6-8 World Finals.
“It got to the point over the years that it was necessary. We’ve gotten some low points in the track. We were down to the footers of the concrete wall, which really limited our ability to prep the track correctly,” said Matt Greci, director of events for Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We were so low on clay levels that there wasn’t a lot we could do depth wise about getting moisture in the track and properly constructing it for a race.”
The clay came from the same location as the track’s original dirt, a piece of land located behind Charlotte Motor Speedway that Greci called Morehead Farms.
Approximately 1500 to 1700 yards of dirt was transported from the Morehead Farms location to The Dirt Track at Charlotte as part of the resurfacing project.
Greci said samples of the new dirt as well as the old dirt were sent to a lab in California to help ensure the combination of the two would provide a workable track surface.
“We work with a company out in California to help us see where our pH levels are, our soil content, all of that,” Greci said. “We sent out samples based on the new stuff, the stuff we’ve got on the track, what the best scenario is for us to get it in and then we work it from there. We use them pretty much every year so we can find out basically where we are with the pH levels, calcium, and all those levels. He gives us a good range of where we are and where we should be.”
Gary Risch, who serves as the general manager of Pennsylvania’s Lernerville Speedway, led a team of workers who prepared the new dirt once it was laid on the track. Risch and his crew have done the track prep at The Dirt Track at Charlotte the past three years.
