FIREBIRD PURCHASES POWERBOSS TRACK SCRUBBER

Top image by M & D Photography

Firebird has never been bashful when it comes to making capital improvements. We take a great deal of pride in offering a cutting edge Compulink timing system, a first-rate Fire & Safety Team, quality Food & Beverage operation, top-shelf restrooms, substantially paved Professional and Sportsman pit area, national-record setting racing surface, full-fledged walk-in Souvenir stores, and the list goes on and on.

General manager Bill New probably put it best when he said, For forty-one years, we strived to make Firebird the best race facility we can. As a family, were committed to the racers, the fans and all our sponsors who have indirectly helped shape and make our raceway into the first-class operation it is today.

Most recently, Firebird made the decision to purchase a PowerBoss Track Scrubber.

To reflect back a bit, a trip this past winter to the NHRA National Track Operators Conference in Florida started the ball rolling on this new piece of equipment that we think will help further elevate Firebird to new levels. Over the past several seasons we've taken the time to research riding scrubbers made by a number of manufacturers.

In Orlando we met Steve Garrett who owns and operates Waynes Industrial Service in Grand Prairie, Texas. The 45-year-old company is home to the PowerBoss Track Scrubber.

Hands down, it is what we would call the state-of-the-art scrubber for Drag Racing operations in the country. Overall, there are now more than 20 of these machines in action, principally east of the Mississippi, at tracks nation-wide.

This unit has been specifically developed to clean dragstrips when an oil-down occurs. It is capable of removing oil, synthetics, antifreeze, transmission fluid, rear end grease and almost anything else that can hinder traction on the surface of a race track. From the burnout box to the quarter-mile stripe, this piece of equipment will now replace the need for rice hull or powdered oil absorbent, not to mention the manpower behind brooms, scrapers, propane, vacuum trucks and the like. Plain and simple, its a remarkable piece of machinery.

The unit we purchased is diesel-powered utilizing a 100-gallon main full-concentrate soap solution tank integrated with a 42 spray bar. In addition, the Scrubber also has two more 100-gallon tanks, one with a mild soap solution and the other for fluid recovery. Furthermore, the Scrubber maintains a series of propane jet torches to evaporate any water or solutions remaining on the track after a clean-up.

The unit will also have the capabilities to completely clean the racing surface prior to major events. Moreover, the scrubber can be used to remove water (in the way of rain) from the race track when the unexpected need arises.

A select number of tracks in the country and the NHRA national event tour have added the PowerBoss to their cache of equipment. As you can imagine, we are very excited to purchase this remarkable tool and place it into the stable of machinery we currently employ at various times. Highly respected in our sport, track operator Royce Miller from Maryland International Raceway told us, Next to the Christmas tree, the PowerBoss Scrubber is the most important piece of equipment at our facility! That's a pretty tall statement, but one of which comes direct from one of the busiest dragstrips in the east.

In conclusion, this is a very significant investment for the future and beyond. It goes without saying, if it'll make our events a better experience for everyone involved (from the fans to the racers)then its a commitment the New Crew is more than excited about making.

NEW POWERBOSS SCRUBBER ARRIVES

Like a kid in a candy store, the Firebird staff went right to work getting brought up to speed on the tracks latest acquisition a PowerBoss Dragstrip Track Scrubber. Steve Garrett with Waynes Industrial flew in from Texas to help train a motivated and excited group of Firebird starting line officials over the weekend.

The training seminar was not only an eye opening experience, but also very beneficial. Hands down, the new scrubber is an extraordinary piece of equipment. It not only cleans up after an oil down, but it is well suited to perform a number of other applications, too.

Special thanks to Steve Garrett for not only making the trip to Firebird, but also spending pretty close to twenty hours at various times over the weekend helping to train our staff. The only amazing aspect to the day was the fact that not a single oil down occurred all day or night (of the Street Machine/Gold Cup race), a mighty fine tribute to all the first-rate equipment that runs down the track at Firebird. But leave it to Steve, he was kind enough to take a few gallons of black gold early in the day and cover our starting line concrete pad with a make-believe oil down. Fortunately enough, the new PowerBoss scrubber cleaned up to perfection and left the surface even better than it was prior to the training exercise in nearly less time than it took to pour it on the ground.

The New family would also like to pass along our appreciation to the Firebird team who got up at nearly sun up, many hours before the start of the racing day, to be brought up to speed on the new machine. No doubt about it, the new PowerBoss scrubber ROCKS!