Fairbury Speedway owner Matt Curl jumped at the opportunity to use 3D mapping on his Illinois dirt oval. By doing so, Curl can successfully recreate the dimensions of the track every time they resurface it.
“We don’t want to change what has been good when adding new material to the racetrack,” Curl said. “Material gets blown out of the track with each race. The track gets patched [at times] — sometimes there is a pocket here or there that needs dirt. There is gradual change each week. By the end of the season the track and banking could be very different than they were at the start of the season.”
Opperman Construction Co., of nearby Pontiac, Illinois, offered the service after hauling in black dirt to recondition the track surface. By the use of GPS, photographs from a drone, and a CAD/CAM program, the company creates a record of the track’s 3D dimensions. They can feed those dimensions into construction equipment using Topcon software to precisely shape the track.
“The equipment effectively models the existing slopes of the racetrack while adding dirt back into the surface,” Opperman Construction Co. project manager Kyle Moody said of how the equipment recreates the original 3D-mapped surface.
Opperman Construction Co. charges around $4,500 for 3D mapping of a dirt oval.
“We now have the technology to look back and see how the track has changed, even in the slightest amount,” said Curl. “The wall around the track doesn’t move, but banking and shape can change.”
Curl said racers benefit from offering a more consistent track. With one variable eliminated, teams can now focus on other factors affecting the track.
“There are still many weather conditions that can change the surface,” Curl said. “The variables of weather will still have drivers chasing the best groove for their car. The surface can be wetter or drier, depending on if it is calm or windy.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
