Jeeves
Well-known member
- Liittynyt
- 19.2.2004
- Viestit
- 2520
Vielä jonkin verran juttua tuosta Indyn päällysteestä. Tekstistä päätellen keskustelu on käyty vähän aikaa Firestonen ensitestin jälkeen.
KING: Brian, we fully expected to be fighting with cars on the track, they'd be able to hear you and Joie during this press conference. There were cars on the track yesterday, but it's my understanding that Firestone has canceled the remainder of the test. If you could address that, please.
BARNHART: Joie and I will be talking with Al Speyer and the Firestone people later this afternoon. As you all know, the surface was repaved here last fall. Yesterday was the first time we had cars on track on the full oval portion of the repaved track. And Firestone came back with several of our teams to do a Firestone tire test for a first run on the new surface. That's standard procedure, very methodical how we do it. They have since canceled and postponed the test. They're going to return later this month. They don't have anything finalized yet, but the look and hope is to come back in the next couple weeks. I think they want to go re-evaluate some things they have seen right away from the cars on track and I think they might have experienced some unexpected results from what they had seen. That's pretty standard, like I say, with the procedures which you go through. Once a track has been repaved, you're going to run, do a methodical process, re-evaluate that data, take a look and we'll come back and take another look at it, like I say, in the next couple weeks.
KING: Brian, anything specific at this point that can be addressed or until you sit down with Firestone and the drivers that were on track, is this kind of an ambiguous sort of situation?
BARNHART: I think it's -- we don't have anything that's jumping out at us. I think everybody was being a little extra cautious. I think they experienced something they had never seen before and unexpected. At that point in time it's better to go evaluate it than it is to try to run through something that you don't know what's going on. They took some of the tires back and they're going to re-evaluate them, get back with us what they see. Our obligation from the Speedway and from the IRL standpoint is we're going to provide a safe and competitive racetrack for them, and we've got the feedback and data from the drivers that were on track yesterday. Firestone will evaluate what their tires are doing, and I'm sure we'll be having a continued dialogue with them. And if anything needs to be addressed after we get more feedback from them, we'll do so, keeping in mind, like I say, our obligation just to present the best racetrack possible for all of our competitors in May.
Q: Brian, I believe you were still the track superintendent when the previous paving job was done. What was different with this particular paving job and how many areas of the track had to be ground down?
BARNHART: Well, there's a lot of things that change over time. If I'm not mistaken, the last time it was paved was for the '96 season. You get a lot of evolution and development over time. The director of engineering and construction for the Speedway is Kevin Forbes, and he is always taking a look at the mix to use and the polymer and slag and aggregate content is. You know, one of the things that did not work very well with the previous pave was it didn't last as long as it was anticipated. And if you remember, it cracked very severely. Even last year we had to stop practice a couple times and we are very fortunate through the race we had some holes develop out on the racetrack that took some time to repair. The paving this year included changing the mix so that didn't reoccur once this new pavement is down. Of course, we have an obligation, as well, to provide as smooth a racetrack as possible. So there were some bumps that were identified out on the racetrack post paving and throughout the wintertime so there was some grinding done. And the comments yesterday, the guys said it is very, very smooth out on the racetrack. Like I said, I don't anticipate we have any major issue. This is the same type of procedure that we've gone through at several other racetracks any time they've been repaved. The difference being Indianapolis is the fastest track we run, and any time that you would see something that is not anticipated or unexpected, you're going to be better safe than sorry. Firestone, their tires are an incredibly important component of what we put on the track in May. They do an outstanding job for us. They saw some things that were unusual and unexpected to them. At that point in time, it's best to just go evaluate it. They've taken the equipment back to Akron, and they're taking a look at it and will get back with us with their feedback. If we have to respond to do something different from a league standpoint, we will. And if Joie needs to do something from a racetrack standpoint, I'm sure they will.
Tässä vielä linkki , jos joku jaksaa lukea koko jutun läpi.
KING: Brian, we fully expected to be fighting with cars on the track, they'd be able to hear you and Joie during this press conference. There were cars on the track yesterday, but it's my understanding that Firestone has canceled the remainder of the test. If you could address that, please.
BARNHART: Joie and I will be talking with Al Speyer and the Firestone people later this afternoon. As you all know, the surface was repaved here last fall. Yesterday was the first time we had cars on track on the full oval portion of the repaved track. And Firestone came back with several of our teams to do a Firestone tire test for a first run on the new surface. That's standard procedure, very methodical how we do it. They have since canceled and postponed the test. They're going to return later this month. They don't have anything finalized yet, but the look and hope is to come back in the next couple weeks. I think they want to go re-evaluate some things they have seen right away from the cars on track and I think they might have experienced some unexpected results from what they had seen. That's pretty standard, like I say, with the procedures which you go through. Once a track has been repaved, you're going to run, do a methodical process, re-evaluate that data, take a look and we'll come back and take another look at it, like I say, in the next couple weeks.
KING: Brian, anything specific at this point that can be addressed or until you sit down with Firestone and the drivers that were on track, is this kind of an ambiguous sort of situation?
BARNHART: I think it's -- we don't have anything that's jumping out at us. I think everybody was being a little extra cautious. I think they experienced something they had never seen before and unexpected. At that point in time it's better to go evaluate it than it is to try to run through something that you don't know what's going on. They took some of the tires back and they're going to re-evaluate them, get back with us what they see. Our obligation from the Speedway and from the IRL standpoint is we're going to provide a safe and competitive racetrack for them, and we've got the feedback and data from the drivers that were on track yesterday. Firestone will evaluate what their tires are doing, and I'm sure we'll be having a continued dialogue with them. And if anything needs to be addressed after we get more feedback from them, we'll do so, keeping in mind, like I say, our obligation just to present the best racetrack possible for all of our competitors in May.
Q: Brian, I believe you were still the track superintendent when the previous paving job was done. What was different with this particular paving job and how many areas of the track had to be ground down?
BARNHART: Well, there's a lot of things that change over time. If I'm not mistaken, the last time it was paved was for the '96 season. You get a lot of evolution and development over time. The director of engineering and construction for the Speedway is Kevin Forbes, and he is always taking a look at the mix to use and the polymer and slag and aggregate content is. You know, one of the things that did not work very well with the previous pave was it didn't last as long as it was anticipated. And if you remember, it cracked very severely. Even last year we had to stop practice a couple times and we are very fortunate through the race we had some holes develop out on the racetrack that took some time to repair. The paving this year included changing the mix so that didn't reoccur once this new pavement is down. Of course, we have an obligation, as well, to provide as smooth a racetrack as possible. So there were some bumps that were identified out on the racetrack post paving and throughout the wintertime so there was some grinding done. And the comments yesterday, the guys said it is very, very smooth out on the racetrack. Like I said, I don't anticipate we have any major issue. This is the same type of procedure that we've gone through at several other racetracks any time they've been repaved. The difference being Indianapolis is the fastest track we run, and any time that you would see something that is not anticipated or unexpected, you're going to be better safe than sorry. Firestone, their tires are an incredibly important component of what we put on the track in May. They do an outstanding job for us. They saw some things that were unusual and unexpected to them. At that point in time, it's best to just go evaluate it. They've taken the equipment back to Akron, and they're taking a look at it and will get back with us with their feedback. If we have to respond to do something different from a league standpoint, we will. And if Joie needs to do something from a racetrack standpoint, I'm sure they will.
Tässä vielä linkki , jos joku jaksaa lukea koko jutun läpi.
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