Track Tac

I need a tire set up

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Komet99

Member
New to the offset world, but been racing for 25 yrs. Long ago was straight rails on dirt ovals. I was fast then, but times are a little different.

Kart is about a 2000 Shadow, making about 25 hp, tracks are tiny bullrings in Texas. Climates are hot and dry most of the time, sandy to very sandy tracks, they take rubber...ok at best.
 
Komet99 said:
New to the offset world, but been racing for 25 yrs. Long ago was straight rails on dirt ovals. I was fast then, but times are a little different.

Kart is about a 2000 Shadow, making about 25 hp, tracks are tiny bullrings in Texas. Climates are hot and dry most of the time, sandy to very sandy tracks, they take rubber...ok at best.
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Are they running treads or slicks (are treads allowed?) The reason that I ask is that when treads are allowed, they really tear up the track and leave marbles and dust in the racing line all but necessitating the use of treads to cut through those crumbs to get a hold of the hard surface underneath. If treads are not allowed, then it sounds like your track would be a good candidate for Vega Yellows (at least to start off with.)
If it indeed is taking rubber (may or may not be) then you would go to a harder tire like a Maxxis Pink or Vega Blue, even a Hoosier FK or A40 if it really is rubbering up. We also offer a "small" set of Hoosier treads that work well with 25HP and lower. The right sides roll out @ 34" so there's no huge ride height difference like when running the big tread sizes made for 500cc outlaw karts.

Give us a call at the shop during business hours - we can get you rolling.


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Its an open tire rule. About half of the races are in rodeo arena's so the make a track on day, then demo it for rodeo purposes. Other back yard tracks are built with not many rules. Down in Texas they are very dry, dusty and some very seldom take much rubber. Im thinking a mid compound tread to get under the soft junk to grab on to something. SS22 or D20. Im considering a slick also to cut my own tread pattern. The guys that use SS33's and such just dont handle.
 
We've sent some Vega Yellows down there for just this purpose. I haven't grooved a set for Texas recently, but we do hand groove right side Vegas from time to time. Just groove the right sides since the bottom of the track generally stays clean. The other tire to consider is a Hoosier D20A if you can get away with a tire that soft. It has more natural gum rubber in it than the D30A and really works well on low/no bite tracks. Your tracks are definitely not taking rubber when you are talking tires this soft.
 
Yes very little rubber taken. Im going to view a couple races in the cooler months down here and see how things play out with track prep and do some talking and comparing what I see versus what I hear.
Coming from sprint car back ground, we cut different angles on different corners.
 
Im interested in the D20. Is it a thing to put it on alll 4 corners? When track conditions allow, put D30 on the right?
 
Komet99 said:
Im interested in the D20. Is it a thing to put it on alll 4 corners? When track conditions allow, put D30 on the right?
Click to expand...
I like to stay with the same compound on all 4 corners just so I can better watch what the tires are doing/working/etc. If the track bites up more, you "can" use split compounds with harder right sides, but consider that the sidewall is different as well. It just throws another variable into the mix when determining if a particular tire is being worked too hard. (ie the softer tires should show more wear than the harder tires, but being on the left - how much more? And when building heat to determine if a tire is being worked harder, now you can't just "look" at the tire and see how it's wearing to determine how hard it's being worked.) I (almost without exception) run the same 4 compounds with the same amount of prep in each on all 4 corners of the car.

I know a little about coming from a sprint car background. ;)
 
Years ago when I ran straight rails on ovals, we ran HG4 on the left and HG5 on the right. I set a track record with that setup and a track championship in the Yamaha class. Since, I have move on to Enduro racing.....much harder to win a race.

Now im faced with a 23 yr old Shadow offset (I think) and I struggle with the setup theories. Im not one to do what everyone else does. No one can explain to me why the enormous RF tire. It seems its just a following...Monkey see monkey do. Racing isnt doing what everyone else does.
 
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