Sun National Bank Center Track Construction Nearing Completion for Indoor Auto Racing Events Set For Friday & Saturday
TRENTON, NJ December 18, 2014 . . . The transformation of the stark concrete slab that is the floor of Trenton. N.J.’s Sun National Bank Center into a highly competitive tenth-of-a-mile speedway began Wednesday, December 17 and is nearing completion as of Thursday afternoon, December 18.
The labor intensive job is in preparation for Battle Of Trenton II, two days of Three Quarter Midget racing on Friday and Saturday, December 18-19. TQs are joined by Champ Karts Friday night and by the Lentini Auto Salvage Slingshots Saturday evening.
The Len Sammons Motorsports Productions produced program racing events currently list 68 TQ Midgets, and 24 Slingshots and Champ Karts each – full fields – for the two days of action.
Track preparation is a two stage process. The most important element of the preparation of the track is the placement of nine truckloads of concrete ‘Jersey barriers’ that define the inside and outside edges of the racing surface. The Jersey barrier was developed at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., in 1950s, hence its name. All Barriers were in place Thursday morning.
The next most important phase of the track prep is the introduction of cola syrup onto the concrete floor. The syrup will combine with the rubber from the Hoosier tires to create adhesion, or ‘grip’ for the cars. Interestingly enough, the rate of adhesion actually increases over the two days of racing activity, the exact opposite of what happens at most outdoor venues.
The first on-track action starts at 1:00 p.m. Friday with closed- to-the-public TQ Midget and Champ Kart practice and time trials.
Spectator gates open at 6:30 p.m. with the first actual racing set to start at 7:30 p.m.
The next day, Saturday, on track action racing begins at 1:00 p.m. with closed-to-the public practice.
Gates for spectators open at 5:00 p.m. Saturday. The popular meet-and-greet session known as Fanfest starts as soon as the gates open, leading up to a 7:00 p.m. start time for racing with TQs joined by the Lentini Auto Salvage Slingshots.
Tickets for both events are available online at www.comcasttix.com and will be available at the arena box office the day of the event.
Sources: Ernie Saxton Communications