Michigan International Speedway is doing some extra preparation to its track surface before the return of NASCAR action next weekend. The speedway has been utilizing a ‘tire dragger’ – which is dragged along the surface to help apply extra rubber – since the beginning of the week and plans to continue to use it through Tuesday of next week. The tire machine is being run every day for eight hours a day, officials said. It’s the same device used by Kentucky Speedway after its repave and Bristol after it ‘polished’ the lower racing groove. ‘We elected to do it because we work closely with and listen to NASCAR and the experts who drive the track – the drivers, who say the racing will get that much better when the top groove gets rubbered in and widens out,’ said Sammie Lukaskiewicz, the speedway’s vice president of marketing and communications. ‘It’s fast here, as you know. So having a wider groove will allow cars to pass each other and allow three-, four- and five-wide passing.’(Motorsport)(8-22-2016)
