When it comes to prepping a street for racing, there are many important factors that come into consideration. From street surface to different traction compounds, we decided to ask a few of the best in the business on their tips on how they prep the street for racing and keep their horsepower from going up in smoke.
- ” Find something industrial with more than one exit and plenty of parking off the race road. Cars like ours need good concrete and a 1500ft minimum to shut down safely after a pass. Less groves in the road means more traction. Smoother denser concrete the better. The road should be flat and wide preferably with a curb instead of a drop-off. I’d rather bend a wheel than drop a tire off the edge of the road, can’t get it back and roll the car.”
– Justin “Big Chief” Shearer- World Famous Street Racer and Street Outlaws Host/Racer.
- “For me, it’s about making sure my prep is mixed right for conditions. Making sure there is a good, fresh layer of rubber down and making the burnout long enough to heat the surface of the tire.”
-Dalton McGuire-1500+whp Titan Supra aka “BoostLee”
- “Some people think the more glue, the better. Not exactly. You must take into account your surface (concrete or asphalt), ambient temperature, road/track temperature and other atmospheric conditions to get your combination correct to have maximum traction and show your opponent your taillights.”
-Tyler Crossnoe. Track/street prep guru.
- “Put down a lot of rubber! Even if you are at a heavily raced spot, lay your own rubber and drag it out 30-40ft. Play with air pressure and contact patch. There is no set # to make a car hook, just adjust air pressure until you see the largest contact patch in your burnout.”
-Jordan Sharp-1100+whp Turbo Cobra aka “The Turnt Cobra”.
- “Traction compound is key! Use PJ1 and MEK in front of your tires to get the road nice and sticky. Also having good security and not having people line the road at the race spot is just as important as the racing itself.”
-Jayce Andrade-Nitrous LSX Fox Body aka “The Yeti”
- “Spray or chemicals will never work or hook as hard as just plain rubber. Best bet is big burnouts with forced induction cars to lay the rubber down. Once the rubber is there, one good burnout and its back to sticky instantly. If you use the wrong mixture it will get really greasy and never ever be able to get it back. Once it’s grease, your only chance is to pray for rain. Burnout in VHT is best bet for all surfaces.
-Shawn “MurderNova” Ellington- World Famous street racer from Street Outlaws.
- “When you find the ideal surface, concrete is better than blacktop, it’s very crucial to measure it to ensure you have enough shutdown area. Get you some of that traction juice and make sure to do a good burnout. Also, make sure there are safe areas for you to set up security.”
-John Andrade Jr. aka “The Cutty” from Street Outlaws
- “Use Traction Compound and floor it! Drag your burnout for 30ft and lay as much rubber as you can. Do two burnouts if you have to, the more rubber the better your traction. Last but not least always remember to back into your burnout.”
-Joey Hiykel- Turbo LS Foxbody aka “The Beater Bomb”
- “Another key point is a clean street. Broom off by hand for the first few hundred feet if dirty. But the only way to truly clean a street is for cars to make passes. We usually let the slower cars go a few rounds to clean the road. Leaf blowers just stir the dirt around, brooms just spread the dirt out and water just turns the dirt into mud. Air from the cars making passes is the only way to get it cleaner.”
– Justin “Big Chief” Shearer- World Famous Street Racer and Street Outlaws Host/Racer.
- “You have to find a good road where the concrete was poured correctly, and in good weather to make a good racing surface. I personally like to use a mixture of water, MEK and VHT track bite compound. Last but not least you need a good tire. A slick is great and nothing can compare to a big rollout, large footprint piece of rubber on your “prep” that youve put on the street”
-John Gentry- 1984 Cutlass with a Nitrous Henson Racing Engine.
