1/4 mile oval spectator drags

[autox19]

We have a 1/4 mile paved oval track near my house that runs spectator drags. one lap around the track. I have often thought that the X with more power in the pooch would do very well. Probably get beat off the line and the straight, but not have to lift at all in the corners.
If all goes well this week, I will have all the parts for the b16 conversion sitting in my garage. I think that should give me a pretty good edge.

Has anyone ever run an X on a banked oval track?


Odie

 

[Steve Hoelscher]

Ovals

I have run a number of my X's on ovals. And have done the "spectator drag" as well. Huntsville Speedway used to do this. They are a 1/4 mile banked asphalt oval. Our sports car club used to run an anual event there and I had made lots lap before I heard about the spectator drags.

So a group of us went one saturday night and I entered my '77 1300 X autocross car, on DOT race tires. I drew a big block Chevelle on some kind of "white letter" tires. We were supposed to draw for lane choice but I passed and gave the Chevelle driver choice and therefore the inside lane. We started side by side on the start/finish line and he killed me to turn 1, where he promptly understeered right up the banking to the wall. I then drove right under him and won easily.

I have also run my old DSP autocrosser at a number of "short tracks" including the half mile at Nashville where I was two seconds under the mini-stock track record. And at Huntsville I was under a second off the Late Model track record.

Ovals are a lot of fun but the walls are quite intimidating. And the spectator races can be fun but the 2000 lbs X is no match for most of the other cars that weight well over 3000 lbs if one of them decides to push you around.