Does rain during the week mess up a dirt track for the weekend?

[Camaro guy]

With all the rain we've been having this week, I've been wondering what effect (if any) it has on being able to a race a dirt track on the weekend. Obviously, rain during the scheduled races would mean calling off the show, but what about rain on Wednesday, Thursday and/or Friday? Does it make the track wet but still race-able or does the clay drain quickly enough that it doesn't matter?

[ocalasp76]

Depnds on the amount of rain and the day. If heavy rain on the race day, then it is probably called. If the day before and then sunny on race day then the races are probably on.
Mike at Ocala has the track graded and ready to go on Friday and then puts 2 truck loads of water on the track 2 hours before the practice starts.
A little 'walk in' of the surface and we are ready for an awsume night of action.
Type of surface has a lot to do with it too.
-JIM-

[The Ocala Speedway]

It's a total balancing act. Right now the track is ready to go for Friday. We should be fine. We also have more latel models coming this weekend. After 10:00 am Friday the weather is forecast to be nice. When we have week after week of heavy rains it makes it harder to work. Right now we don't have that. We've had a couple weeks of dry. The worst for us is a lot of rain right before the show or continuous rain the day of if you didn't plan. You can prep the track to a degree for rain. Last year I learned a lot. I stay away from the water truck with any chance of rain. You just need to adjust your plan based on the weeks weather. Of course it's always easier when you control the amount of water being put down. It's really not a big deal you just have to pay attention.

[Camaro guy]

Thanks for the info. So the summer 20 minute downpours late Friday afternoons are no big deal? I've mostly watched asphalt so I'm still learning about dirt prep and how weather affects the track and racing.

[The Ocala Speedway]

No problem. Those 10 or 15 minute summer time showers actually helped us last year. It just meant we were able to park the water truck and mother nature helped us out.