New Superspeedway Making its League Sanctioned Debut Tuesday

Post Reply
User avatar
BONESXLT
RTG Owner
RTG Owner
Posts: 3147
Joined: November 12th, 2020, 7:35 pm
Car#: 3

New Superspeedway Making its League Sanctioned Debut Tuesday

Post by BONESXLT »

jasonjustis wrote: August 21st, 2014, 12:13 pm It's been through design, development and testing for almost a year, and the time has come for a new superspeedway track to make its mark on the NR2003 community.

Image

"But it just looks like a plain old oval..."

And that's where you would be mistaken in your assumptions.

This new superspeedway track is called Progressive Speedway, but there is more behind the track's title than just being named after an insurance company. To our knowledge, no one has tried to do what this track has accomplished, and that is provide multiple, competitive grooves of racing on a superspeedway track without having to resort to modifying grip levels to handicap the bottom grooves and make the higher grooves more enticing to run. There have been several tracks built for this sim that have utilized the multigroove technology to allow constant three wide racing all over the track, and they put on some of the best action of any plate track out there. TalladegaTR is a perfect example in what is used during MSR's Tally Challenge on Thursday nights.

"But if you're not using different grip levels for the low, middle and high grooves of the track, how can you guarantee that all the grooves are competitive like you claim?"

That is because Progressive Speedway was built using variable banking in the corners, or "progressive" banking if you will. Beginning with 20° banking at the very bottom of the track, ten separate layers were applied to the track's racing surface in increments of roughly 1.25° difference from one layer to the next, culminating in a 32.5° grade at the very top of the track next to the wall.

Inspired by the wave of real life Sprint Cup Series tracks that have been recently repaved and reconfigured with progressive banking (starting with Homestead, and including Bristol, Phoenix and Kansas), progressive banking is not something that can be easily replicated within the limits of NR2003, but when the track is large enough and set to superspeedway in the chassis type, the results are magical. In the countless number of test sessions that this track has held in preparation for its big debut in a league sanctioned race, we have seen three-wide be the norm, with four- and five-wide accomplished multiple times COMFORTABLY. How many tracks can boast that they can run that many drivers four or five wide with room to spare AND with EVERY GROOVE having the same chance of coming out ahead? The short answer would be ZERO.

Like any superspeedway, you're going to need help in getting grooves established and the more drivers that commit to a line, the harder that lane will be to beat. However, the design and banking of Progressive Speedway lends itself to slingshot moves and slidejobs that almost mimic short tracks in a sense. Many times we have seen drivers ride in line behind one another in the top grooves of this track then decide to jump out of line, swing all the way down to the bottom in the middle of the corners, and then try to complete a pass and slide back up in front on corner exit. With the internal asphalt grip level being the same across all grooves of the track, that option is there to try and make those moves. What this will effectively guarantee is that when a lane is open, you can bet that someone will try and fill the hole to gain track position.

This coming Tuesday marks the culmination of all the hard work in design, testing and setup developing as Blazin' Thunder will host the first ever league sanctioned race at Progressive Speedway. It's no secret on how popular superspeedway racing is here at Rolling Thunder Gaming and Blazin' Pedals as both leagues have Superspeedway Series that utilize all kinds of plate tracks that have been made for this game. As a driver who has vouched for the unique design of this track since laps were first turned at the place, I am confident that leagues that run superspeedway series all across NR2003 will have a stout track to add to their rotations. If you've always wondered what it felt like to swing down the banking of a track in the corners and feel the track flatten out from under you as your vehicle elevation changes, then Progressive Speedway will likely be the first superspeedway that takes you for a spin and makes that a reality.

Pit road is effectively the length of the front stretch, and the entry to pit road is at the end of the backstretch. The access road to pit lane is flat, and you'll have to get your race vehicle whoaed down a bit to make the 55 mph pit road speed limit, much like how the pit road speed limit is at Daytona and Talladega. Exiting pit road could be just as tricky, as you have to stay on the apron all the way until it is safe to merge on the backstretch.

As you're turning laps around this 2.583-mile speedway, you'll notice something peculiar about where the finish line is stationed. Most superspeedways have their finish lines located on the frontstretch somewhere, but not Progressive Speedway. As the field will be coming down the backstretch for the final time on Tuesday in the Blazin' Thunder Series, drivers will be jockeying for position to get in the bottom groove going into turn 3 because you don't want to give up a slingshot move down the track and give up spots since the finish line is located right at the exit of turn 4!

How many trucks wide will the finish be at this track on Tuesday? Could we see records set in lead changes at this track? Will slingshot moves get some drivers in trouble while others make it work? This is the most excited I've been for a new track in quite some time, and it would be a mistake if drivers here missed out on an opportunity to not only be the first ones to participate in an official race at the track, but the first to grace its victory lane! Will it be you?

Download Progressive Speedway
User avatar
BONESXLT
RTG Owner
RTG Owner
Posts: 3147
Joined: November 12th, 2020, 7:35 pm
Car#: 3

Re: New Superspeedway Making its League Sanctioned Debut Tuesday

Post by BONESXLT »

JoshM wrote: August 21st, 2014, 3:23 pm This track is going to be AWESOME. Nick Chaboudy and Blazin' Pedals did an incredible job creating, testing, and editing this track. I was lucky enough to make a few test runs with anywhere from 6-8 trucks, and even with that small of a field, we had a blast. In the test with 12 trucks, we were 4-wide, 3 rows deep, for most of the test race. A very unique and competitive track. Can't wait to run it next Tuesday!

Blazin' Pedals has also given us permission run it here at RTR. The new Bare Bones series will be racing on this same track on December 1st.
User avatar
BONESXLT
RTG Owner
RTG Owner
Posts: 3147
Joined: November 12th, 2020, 7:35 pm
Car#: 3

Re: New Superspeedway Making its League Sanctioned Debut Tuesday

Post by BONESXLT »

jasonjustis wrote: August 26th, 2014, 9:52 am Big race tonight everyone!

You want some of this?

Image
Post Reply

Return to “RTG General Discussion”