Smith Rd Memorial Day Race Pics

Damn looks really muddy! I live 10 miles away and it was beautiful all day, never rained at my house.
 
Vet261 said:
Damn looks really muddy! I live 10 miles away and it was beautiful all day, never rained at my house.
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hahah! It started muddy and after the mid day prep was even muddier. If you want to participate in a dangerous sport made more dangerous by slick mud conditions created by horrible prep try Smith Road. My rider survived but very much over it. I have stood up for them on many occasions but not anymore.
 
Spent our 20th year at smith road for the Memorial Day Race. new owners have ruined this track. The track layout sucks with them cutting the back section out for that stupid pit bike track (which no one was on all day) the 55 gallon drums they use as track markers are really dangerous. Saw a few riders hit them and crash because of it. and they can not prep a track if their life depended on it. They flooded the track without tilling anything in and it was an adsolute ice rink. So bad one rider knocked himself as a result of overwatering a blind downhill and they had to stop the race. No trash cans anywhere on the property. These people should not be alowed to own a motocross track.
 
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The Year: 1974
The Track: Smith Rd Raceway

We miss you George .....


Edit: get some goggles on that kid already !!!
 
jj584 said:
hahah! It started muddy and after the mid day prep was even muddier. If you want to participate in a dangerous sport made more dangerous by slick mud conditions created by horrible prep try Smith Road. My rider survived but very much over it. I have stood up for them on many occasions but not anymore.
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Oh boy.... Ya. Lots of mad riders after intermission. I thought the layout was a lot of fun? If nobody rides on the pit bike track on race day, then I’d open it up and run it, then rope it back off on practice days as a pit bike track.

I’d say “ruined” is harsh. I heard a lot of people saying that they liked the track until intermission. George definitely made a mud bog out of it too, so it’s not just a Larry thing. No doubt that the track prep was wrong for the second set of races.

Something else I’d address was the crashed rider in the start of a staggered start race. It took the fellow til the time the first race was coming around to get going again. Instead of just waiting til that race was over with to start the next race (plus 50?), they let the guys go right in front of the faster race behind. So the faster (Plus 30?) guys came flying up on the back of the Plus 50 race. Plus 30 had a little unexpected traffic to battle through, and the Plus 50 guys had a little extra excitement....

The water was a bigger problem as it sent a rider to the hospital injured. I think Larry meant well because he didn’t want it too dusty, but it really ruined the day for the second set of motos. My $.02. —L*64
 
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Something else I’d address was the crashed rider in the start of a staggered start race. It took the fellow til the time the first race was coming around to get going again. Instead of just waiting til that race was over with to start the next race (plus 50?), they let the guys go right in front of the faster race behind. So the faster (Plus 30?) guys came flying up on the back of the Plus 50 race. Plus 30 had a little unexpected traffic to battle through, and the Plus 50 guys had a little extra excitement....


Yes out +30 Moto hit the back of the +50 moto halfway through lap 2. Jeremy Nance and I had a great battle going and it got quite hairy coming through as I don't think the +50 guys expected us to come through that quick. Racer 842 and I had a close call coming over one of the tables out of the corner, he was in the main line and I had to make a quick adjustment on the slick track. It worked and I'm thankful we didn't come together.

I love smith road, I've been going since I was 8 years old, I remember the muddy practices quite well, scrambling over to the wash bays to spray off, and running the track backwards as well. It's also less than a half hour from me now so it's my home practice track. The track has elevation, ruts, and nothing too crazy when it comes to jumps so I can go there and ride laps and not have to worry about not making it to work the next day. It's easy to come on here or facebook and bitch about things. I've been guilty of it after a bad day of riding BUT I've had way more good days than I have had bad there, I agree the track prep left a lot to be desired after the intermission, before, I didn't think it was bad at all. The quads had a lot to do with shoving any topsoil left off the track at the end of the first motos. The juice isn't worth the squeeze with having the quads there on raceday in my opinion. It was quite slick but I just ran a gear high and managed my throttle for wins in +25 and +30.

There as some things I would like to see changed, mainly bringing the back section back (one of the best parts of the track previously!) and tilling the corners deeper. I've talked to their safety guy about this in person and he was very open to hearing suggestions.

I think their heart is in the right spot and the place has a ton of potential. I'm glad they put the new fences in as it keeps people from riding/walking onto the track at any spot. I'm glad they are still open after the pipe line fiasco. I don't know the Plas family personally, I know they have been around for a bit though, I bet they will do whatever they need to bring it back to it's glory days.
 
I think most of the problems occur with the sprinkler system. They’re on and there is not anybody really paying attention that some areas are drenched and others not touched at all. Same on practice days, mud soaked corners concrete everywhere else. If you want good mid day conditions there’s going to be mud when they open, but you shouldn’t be pushing 18” of slop off with a dozer after the mid day prep.
 
Premix and JJ- I agree fully. I know Larry from being around there. I think there’s likely more to it than what we think when it comes to track prep. I’m glad to have the track close to home that isn’t a supercross track.

I guess I’d say that you can’t please everybody, and we can’t expect Smith Rd. to be a national track either. The over watering at intermission and the staggered start debacle were two glitches in an otherwise good event. Something to be brought up as constructive criticism, more than the superlative- “ruined” adjective.... Hell- I remember George running the six pack in front so screwed up that they were dangerous, and watering mid moto with the watering truck without warning! Hahaha!

Anyway, they’ll prolly read this, and hopefully they’ll talk to the starters about how to deal with special circumstances like the first turn crash incident, and change up the intermission track prep program. Aside from that- I thought the track was a lot of fun, and the first motos were really good! —L*64
 
I've never understood why Smith Rd can't get a handle on prep. Seems they always just drag the top couple inches, water the crap out of it, then let the riders loose. The result is an ice rink in nearly every turn under a few inches of muck that gets slung off after a few motos. If they'd just disc or rip the track after watering it, it'd be a much better result.
 
don't even waste your time telling them things they can improve they don't listen or care.Everyone bitched about the stupid barrels being in the corners after they re opened last year and they couldn't even fix something as simple as that
 
Lol.... Didnt go to the race because I know they cant get it right.

I have personally talked to Larry on more than a few occasions, only about the prep. When you show up at 445 on weds and the dust is already hanging in the air every where you know its not right. I tried to explain to him that you need to dig it deep and water at the same time. He simply said he has a 200 hp tractor and he is doing a better job than any one in Ohio. He also said that you cant dig it too deep because you will scare off the slow riders.

There was quite a bit more discussion than that over the few times I talked to him but those were his 2 main points. The reason I say this is, he already knows how to prep his track properly and he knows he is doing it correctly. You cant help anyone to do better if they already know what they are doing is the best in Ohio.

I miss Georges track, it is gone and will not return. The days of awesome ruts in most of the corners, the better layout with lots of those corners, the changes made to the track each week and sometimes backwards and having 3x the amount of riders to be passed by or pass are gone. Yeah we should be grateful for a track to ride at but when its not near as fun as it could be, when your friends crash simply because the prep sucks and your lungs are hacking up muddy balls from all the dust you inhaled on practice night people stop showing up. If you rode the track 10 years ago and compared turnouts to now you know what I am saying is true.

My son and I will still go after a rainy week but honestly he normally tells me he doesnt want to go because he doesnt have fun because of the prep.
 
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