Since the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour last came to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH, the 2.4-mile classic road course has undergone one significant change: a complete repave.
Completed at the end of October 2023, the work utilized approximately 100 people, 5,000 work hours, 15 trucks to remove approximately 6,000 tons of old track material, and 30 trucks to haul in 6,000 tons of the new asphalt mixture onto the property. The project encompassed 11,550 feet of surface paving, 3,500 feet of various turn reinforcement, 500 feet of full depth repair in the Keyhole and Turn 12 areas, and 300 feet of transverse joint repair.
And on Friday, May 17, 2024, it got a full wet test as the area had seen more than an inch of rain in the past couple of days – and it was still raining. This has set the stage for the May 17-19, 2024, Hoosier Super Tour at Mid-Ohio.
Local knowledge told us that the old rain line was well off the traditional dry line, but how has that changed with the new pavement? For that, we went to one of those locals who’s been around Mid-Ohio a time or two: John Heinricy.
Sixteen-time Runoffs gold medalist (eight of which came at Mid-Ohio) Heinricy is now driving a Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, which he admits is a car he’s still trying to maximize. Even so, Friday’s morning practice session showed some things in that new asphalt.
“It’s not as necessary to drive off line as the old pavement was, where if you were on line it was terrible,” Heinricy said. “There’s not any extra grip in that situation now. It’s still pretty slick, but it’s not too bad except for where there are puddles, and that’s always true.”
One of those spots is Turn 6 where it puddled before, near the curbing. This isn’t a surprise, because obviously the contours of the track and the landscape didn’t change.
It’s possible the more uniform surface could lead to better racing in the rain, with opportunities to take a different line around the track. Time will tell on that.
But the real hope is that we won’t have to find out this weekend.
There’s a great chance the track will begin to dry out on Friday afternoon. There’s a possibility of rain early on Saturday morning, but the optimists think the rest of the weekend may be dry. That’s better for everyone, and a great chance to test out that new pavement and maybe set some track records.
Wet or dry, anyone around the world can find out how the new track is racing at this weekend’s Hoosier SCCA Super Tour. Beginning Friday afternoon, every lap is streamed live on SCCA.com’s live Timing & Scoring page, as well as on SCCA’s Facebook and YouTube pages. The broadcast, produced by DriversEye Live and featuring a multitude of cameras plus audio commentary by Brian Bielanski and Gregg Ginsberg, will cover every session through the final checker on Sunday.
