Bret Kepner

The track crew at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, IL, (led by Drag Racing Manager Rich Schafer), has already started an agressive drag racing facility improvement program for the upcoming 2010 drag racing season.

The track surface has been scraped, ground and leveled from the concrete launch pad transition point to the finish line. The asphalt from the end of the quarter-mile to the sand trap will be coated with an NHRA-recommended sealer which, among other benefits, will promote faster drying when wet.










Also, GIR employee (and track championship-winning racer) Dennis Gilliam took it upon himself to alleviate the traffic congestion which often occurs at the back (eastern) end of the staging lanes. After proposing changes in the staging lane design to Schafer, Gilliam extended each of Gateway's eight 400-feet-long staging lanes almost 125 extra feet using only a hand-pushed striping cart and a tape measure!


Said Gilliam, "During busy events, cars would be backed up to the fuel pumps at the eastern end of the staging lanes. That put cars in a curve to the north and blocked any view of open available staging lanes. If you walked around the corner and looked, there were often still empty lanes. Once one or two lanes backed up, everybody just lined up behind them".

"I spoke to management about it and they agreed with my idea", Gilliam continued. "I lengthened the staging lanes another one hundred feet out the back to the east. I also painted larger numbers at the end of each lane. That will give an extra twenty-four feet of turn area. Now, if one or two lanes are completely full of vehicles, the other lanes will have room to get by. I think people will get a better idea of where they are supposed to be".

Gilliam added, "Hopefully, we will figure out a way to post some signage back there to help drivers get in the proper lanes. I measured out turns and spots for signage. Racers will still approach the lanes from the north, as always, but in four single lines separated by barrels marked with signs for Lanes 1 & 2, Lanes 3 & 4, Lanes 5 & 6 and Lanes 7 & 8. As you turn toward the actual west-bound staging lanes, each will widen into two lanes. With the extra one hundred feet of staging and the striped turns we should accomodate forty to fifty more cars without traffic backing up to the fuel pumps. I also extended Lane 0 back to the fuel pumps. Lane 0 is actually an emergency lane and also offers access to the pits south of staging. I stenciled several areas with "Do Not Block" in that lane so acces to the fuel pumps as the southern pit area are not obstructed.".

Dennis also cautioned his critics, "Before you give me crap about crooked lines, the photos below show what I had to work with. It was a real high-tech operation! It's never a good idea to have the guy who limps be the one to push the walk-behind striper!".



BEFORE



AFTER





PHOTOS, INITIATIVE AND HARD WORK COURTESY OF DENNIS GILLIAM!