Drag Illustrated Issue 113, September 2016 | Page 62
PRODUCTS & PRESS
TEN YEARS IN, TRACK METER
HAS CHANGED THE GAME
There are plenty of variables in drag racing that
must be accounted for, and the condition of the
racing surface has always been one of the most
mysterious ones. Since the sport’s early days, a
simple twist of the shoe or a check of the surface
temperature were the only ways to get an approximate idea of the level of traction available
at any given time during a race.
All that changed a decade ago when Chicago
native Larry Wolyniec founded Competition
Motorsports and debuted the Track Meter. The
Track Meter is a simple-to-use tool that provides
consistently accurate measurements of the race
track’s surface.
Working with Austin Coil and Frank Hawley
on the legendary Chi-Town Hustler then being
immersed in the early 10.5-inch tire movement
are just a few milestones during Wolyniec’s motorsports journey. The list of people Wolyniec
has been involved with reads like a Hall of Fame
inductee list. His ability to innovate, develop and
manufacture has benefited many race teams, and
his role in Sandvik, a tier one manufacturer servicing GM, Toyota and Harley Davidson, is also
a testament to his abilities. Larry first debuted
the Track Meter device while working with Top
Fuel team owner Bill Miller and the Bill Miller
Engineering team in 2006, and numerous patents
and countless hours of research since then have
led to today’s version of the device.
When it comes to its operation, the Track Meter’s simplicity has been its foundation. By standing on the unit’s machined aluminum foot tabs,
an internal spring applies a determined amount
of pressure to the Track Meter’s bottom rubber
pad. This rubber pad has a durometer hardness
similar to most drag racing tires. The user then
turns the Track Meter’s included torque wrench
attachment to a specified number of degrees. The
tattletale marker on the device’s torque wrench
will then indicate the level of torque measured
at that particular spot on the race track surface.
Shoe-twisting and guessing were instantly a
thing of the past.
Even a dyed-in-the-wool old school racer like
Charles Carpenter, known for being at the forefront of the Pro Modified movement, has seen the
advantages using the Track Meter can provide.
“My first exposure to the Track Meter came in
2011 when I was crew chief for fellow Pro Mod
racer Dan Stevenson,” Carpenter said. “This was
also around the same time we began to see ‘superprepped’ race tracks, and using the Track Meter
allowed us to detect even small changes in the
track surface throughout the race or from one
track to the next. Using the device in tandem with
Track Meter’s data tracking software allowed us
to build a database of the tracks we visited during the 2011 season that proved invaluable the
62 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
John Force Racing track
specialist Lanny Miglizzi
Nitrous racing legend Charles
Carpenter and Paul Albino from
Total Induction Tuning Solutions
next racing season.
“Not only did we build a database, but it allowed
me to get a better feel for the track surface and
determine if what we were seeing was actually a
good rubber base, or if it was simply a lot of traction compound,” Carpenter continued. “That’s a
big deal for a Pro Mod or any car that runs a slick
tire, but I truly believe the Track Meter is a tool
that would prove to be valuable for a racer at any
level, even your weekend-warrior bracket racer.”
Track Meter offers the ability to create and
archive data based upon many key areas. Racers
now have the ability to document their track readings as well as pertinent weather conditions, time
of day and location. The end result is a simple
metric that can be used to achieve a baseline
on how you tune the car at any given track or
atmospheric condition.
Each Track Meter unit is proudly made in the
USA, and the housing and select components
are CNC precision machined from 6061-T6 billet aluminum for strength and maximum weight
reduction. The outer housing is black anodized
for durability – to stand up to the harsh conditions and abuse that can be seen at the race track.
Plus it would be hard to argue the two-tone isn’t
a winning look.
“It’s truly the only accurate way to gauge a track.
I’ve been doing this a long time and looking back
on my career, there are innumerable situations
where I wish I had a tool like the Track Meter,”
Carpenter admitted. “When the track is rapidly
cooling off at night, or after an oildown, all that
guesswork on how many grams of counterweight
to add to the clutch or what to do with the starting
line RPM could have been eliminated. Anything
other than the Track Meter is truly a guess.”
For more information, visit
www.trackmeteronline.com.
Issue 113