Mr. Ronald
 

Mr. Ronald,

There is a reason why you have so many wrecks at the end of your track. I would like to hear your opinion on why that is......???

Also- have you noticed that cars flip fairly easy at your track.....know why? The highway barriers are not first choice at most tracks for that very reason. The angled bottom allows the cars to climb the wall and over they go.

I'm not really trying to knock the track because it is a nice facility, well run, priced right and has a good crowd. But every single time I have come to that track, there has been a wreck at the end of the track.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the grooved concrete after the finish line. I could see where the grooves could possibly grab a car that was a LITTLE out of shape and make it A LOT out of shape......just food for thought.

What's your thought?


Respectfully,
Wes Whittle

Or is it possible that the groove is so extremely narrow there that anything outside of it is asking for trouble?

I will just give my opinion from what I saw from when I went to Bowman before I moved. I had been going to Bowman from the very day they opened and went until I moved in the end of 2008. I took many cars and trucks there all running from in the 5s to the 9s and never once had a problem going down the track. We actually did a few money races in the same lane right after someone else wrecked. I dont think its the track.
Now what I have seen 100% of the time is driver error and people doing very dumb shit causing them to wreck on all the wrecks I personally seen. I personally saw 4 or 5 people wreck into the wall under 50mph at the 1/8 because the were coasting then shot/and or just floored the car for some unknown reason. 99.99% of the wrecks I saw were all because of very poor driving and they would have wrecked at any track. Of course things could have changed but it was the best track around IMO.

Since Donnie's wreck, last saturday was the first time ive seen a wreck out there. IMO the track shouldn't have let that last race happen. No one had made a pass in over 20 min, and with the amount of moisture in the air, they were asking for trouble. I do have one question. After the thunderstorm Saturday evening, did they dry/blow/drag pass the finish line? Is it possible with so much moisture in the air that pass the finish line never did completely dry? I've never had any kind of problem out there, but i'm also not nearly as fast as the cars were that were wrecking, and i'm on radials.

I agree that most of the time it is dumbass drivers. But for some reason, Bowman doesn't seem to be very forgiving.

I think it has something to do with the grooved concrete even though some of the wrecks happen before the transition, i think the grooved concrete is grabbing the tires and exagerating the problem.

Also- the highway barracades.....

x2 there.

It's those skinny race tires on the front. Lol

I left when they said they were closing the track, and figured they were closing it due to dew on the track. When i shut zac's tailgate it was SOAKED. Im surprised they even let people run after that.

Thanks for the info Wes I will have some one to come out and check on the groove at the end of the track .The shut down area we dried and clean Sat.Most wreck happen before the grooved area, Like Minytrker said most were driver fault . We will do every thing we can to keep every one safe.

I normally wont post this car. but, Since he was getting out of the throttle so much I think it will be OK. I believe this is the big one y'all were talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULrkEngdWoU

You can see the back fire when he let off. Said the car was going into his lane at that point. I have no opinion on the matter just thought it might help with this discussion.

I am not running that fast either, but was talking to the older white man on the starting line at Bowman. I expressed the concern on the concrete barriers, because there is no doubt a car will climb them but also the thing that bothers me is the lanes are really narrow, and there is really no room to move, and maybe what is happening is people that would typically try to drive a car that is hazing the tires a little, just cant get away with that at Bowman due to the lanes being a little narrow. I still think Bowman does a better track prep/maint, then alot of the other 1/8 mile tracks around which I will leave nameless..:bigthumb:

some straight concrete barriers a foot off the surface like carolina would make the track feel much wider.

Thanks for the response Ronald- keep up the good work.

Had a bad experience at Bowman in the shutdown area a couple years ago w/ a grudge car. Definitely wasn't driver error. Might have been moisture on the track, but can't be sure.

I agree, that place is way too narrow. No room for error.

The 2 people that called it narrow race at Dorchester every Sunday-:hide:
I bet Bowman is the same width, or wider.

i agree, it just appears more narrow b/c the walls are taller and more distinct. Bowman doesnt seem narrow to me, granted it isnt as wide as carolina, but not any more narrow than dorchester

by the way! to all the people involved with bowman track. was hooking really good saturday.

Seems wide enough for me doesnt seem narrow at all. Dorchester is narrower than em all and track prep isnt consistent. Carolina is wide as hell but its also a 1/4mile track and 1/4 mile tracks has to be wider than a 1/8th mile track.

I did notice at Candymanns first race @ bowman that red regal (T5) cought hell trying to slow down in the shut down area. Few other cars also.

http://bowmandragway.com/about.htm (Picture)

The weather was a factor... The Dew was heavy... Plus the driver seem to be looking back to see if Peanut was gaining..... then he over corrected.... Glad to know he was okay.

There was 3 wrecks though. Just sayin.

Dorchester is now where near as narrow as Bowman. Period. I will agree about track prep though.

i spun around and never hit shit, ima lucky shit. all i have to say, when im together again ill go back

That car got 10 cars plus the break so its hard for me to believe that car wrecked due to track prep. How fast could he had been going through the traps after starting at half track. I agree he prob was looking behind him to see where the other car was.

There were some other factors from what I heard not track related that could have easily contributed to the driver wrecking also.

Bowman is 40ft wide, how wide is Dorchester? I bet you will be surprised its not as wide as you think.

On slicks my car will wiggle in the shut down at bowman if i get out of the throttle quickly. The car doesn't do that any where else. If I ease out of the gas I have no problem and on Radials it is always fine. Fast cars don't have enough shut down room to ease out of the gas.

I have a vid that shows a car wrecking @ bowman striking the wall twice and both tires rode on the top of the barriers so I truly believe that the cars are climbing the barrier during a wreck. Wish I knew how to rip a dvd onto a computer. The cause of the wreck was 100 percent driver error though.

That car that race pnut was a guy name k9. In the past month in race a TA and a Box Chevy every race he race the driver had to get out of gas to keep from wrecking his car so this time they used a diffent driver which was the owner and he never let out of it. I seen that car ran 3 grudge runs and it all ways get out of shape right before the finish line

Where were the other grudge runs at?

all the races k9 did was @ bowman and yall rite everytime it was outa shape except when guy drove it 1 time n beat randall n silver ta! it doesnt help either when ive heard 3 people say they saw him doin some illegal stuff b4 the race u got 2 have a good head when u racing. and btw he did cross b4 the lites bc he took out the cones but the guy holdn money paid off b4 the guy in the tower had a chance to tell him o well that racing! overall i think bowman is the BEST TRACK AROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yea a lot of people will blame the tracks for their accidents instead of their cars or them selves. If you have to fight your car on the top end all the time your days are numbered....

He did not cross the center lane. He hit brushed the wall close to the Win light and knocked the scoring off in Peanut lane. Then he got out of shape. It looks like he was looking back then he jerk the wheel because he thought he was gonna rub the wall. Thats when the car go out of shape. If he would have cross the center before that Peanut would have got the W. He was out on Peanut a lot when he took the W light. The tower was speaking on the error he got when he saw Peanuts time. This was because K9 knock the lights off line when he got so close to the wall and the time frooze where Peanut was at that time.

What race were you watching? The only reason he even beat Peanut was because he locked the brakes down.

Ronald,

An easy solution and Darryl may have mentioned this, would be to move the barriers off of the track surface all together. This will widen the track and give the 90* right angle you would desire for the wall keeping the tires from riding up the side of them. Yea the cars may take on some body damage, but it just may reduce someone's chances from rolling their car over. About the grooving in the track surface, I'm not sure would you could do other than shaving the surface back down.

If you make any other changes, I would like to see some more shut down room & smoother return road.

I still like your track though, and will continue to run there. It's a nice facility and kept in good condition.

i agree, a paved return road would make bowman even that much better

exactly... pnut locked the brakes down (backfire in video) only to prevent from getting his car wrecked. he was way faster locked up and got back in it to and never lost traction. the slow car (k9) caused the problem...
If it was track prep then then the way faster car would have had issues too in general but especially when the brakes were locked down and then back into it at the end of the track but yet... he had no issues other then the opponent being incompetent...

$10 to watch and $15 to race is the going rate at other tracks. I personally wouldn't have a problem paying that because yall have a better setup minus the return road and wall. That would help pay for the return road paving and make the wall safer.

The walls being higher might be the reason the track appears to be more narrow, might be that I am use to NHRA 1/4 mile tracks where you can turn a tractor trailer around on the racing surface, who knows. Ronald and the guys at Bowman do a good job on track prep, and I am actually blown away that they even ask about opinions, and as a racer I appreciate it. I was actually talking to a few other bracket racers at Dorchester who are considering other tracks next season, due to their hour long track clean up, and inconsistant right lane issue, that they seem uninterested in repairing. Who knows, Bowman might of come along at a good time..

I agree. Bowman is priced awesome but may be handcuffing themselves a littlebit for improvements. It might piss off some people if they raise the price, but they will only bitch about it for a week or so and they will be right back. I know money is money, but we are only talking 5 more bucks.

You are right. Dorchester better get their shit together or everyone is just going to move to Bowman on Sunday's. Bowman would probably be closer for everyone except the people coming from Charleston, and we are use to having to drive a good distance anyway.

And Ronald- we know improvements/changes aren't free- we just appreciate you listening!