MIS using jet dryers to melt snow
Published 9:06 am Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Michigan International Speedway is using jet dryers to try and remove the snow from the track. MIS will host a tire test Wednesday. (Submitted photo)
BROOKLYN — More than 80 inches of snow has fallen at Michigan International Speedway this year.
And with just a week to go before NASCAR’s fastest track opens its gates for a Goodyear tire test, it was time to call in the big guns to melt ice and snow from the track.
Michigan International Speedway maintenance crews used old-fashioned know-how Monday, enlisting the help of jet dryers to melt snowdrifts and sheets of ice on some areas of the racing surface.
The ice was several feet thick in some places, especially in shaded areas of the track.
And while temperatures are expected to be warmer this week and next, it was important to get a jump on melting the ice before cars test.
The jet dryer was first used in the early 1970s to melt snow at Michigan International Speedway. It evolved to eventually be the primary means NASCAR used to dry racetracks after rain delays.
Today, jet dryers have been replaced by NASCAR’s innovative Air Titan technology.
MIS President Roger Curtis expects all the snow and ice will be gone by next week.
