747 book club. 'What is Dirt Track?' TOP DEAD CENTER -by Kevin Cameron

What is dirt track? Is it a pillowy oval of loose agricultural loam, thrown up into cushy berms from which rear wheels can fling flashy rooster tails into the stands?  It is not. The track is what is left after the heat races have blasted and polished away everything loose that can possibly be removed by 90 horsepower high speed grinders. Whats left is hard packed, clay-rich pavement, topped with a blue black line topped with the softest and grippiest  tire rubber. This stuff makes real traction- in round figures, dirt track bikes travel at 1 g around the Mile ovals--more traction than you are ever likely to see between your street tires and hot strip of summer asphalt. The tires howl as they slide against this stuff. It's hard. No nurturing Earth Mother cradles the fallen here. This is left handed, two-wheels-sliding, high-speed roadracing competition.