In 2008, a gate was installed in the turn two exit in response to the number of serious multi-car wrecks that had occured over the years when a car tried to exit the track under the green flag.

To exit, you have to go high in turn two above the upper groove. However, to make the right turn into the exit, you have to jog left back into the upper groove. This, as well as drivers cutting from the lower groove across the track to the exit, has caused many serious accidents on the track.

The new exit gate was run as follows:

• The gate was closed when the green flag was dropped, and opened during a yellow, red, or when the race ended. Trying to exit when the gate was closed resulted in disqualification.
• To exit the track because of a problem, the driver had to drive into the infield.
• A yellow was then thrown to allow that car to exit the track and work on the car, possibly returning for the restart.

However, these additional yellows caused changes in how a race ran, and to the balance of advantages and disadvantages. The pros and cons reported so far are as follows:

Pros

• There were no green flag race accidents due to exiting the track during 2009.
  (There was a hot lap accident when a driver cut across the track from the lower groove to the exit, but the gate is open during hot laps)
• A driver is no longer unsure, when a car goes high in turn two, if that car just slipped loose or if they are going to jog and turn to exit, making driving that turn safer.
• When a driver has to exit the track due to a technical problem, the yellow flag that has to be thrown to allow them to exit the infield gives them a chance to work on their car and return without losing any more laps.
• If the problem is a fluid leak, less of the fluid hits the track if the car can dive into the infield at any point, and then exit straight from the infield to the turn two exit during the exit yellow. There is less to clean up, and less slippery spots for further racing.

Cons

• The increased number of yellow flags constantly eliminates any lead racers have gained.
• The increased number of yellow flags allows faster cars to progress quicker from the back of the field by constantly closing the field up for the restarts.
• The increased number of yellow flags causes more interruptions in the race show as seen by the fans, and increases the amount of time it takes to run a race.
• Racers are now able to work on a technical problem during an exit yellow, which eliminates some of the advantage for other cars that did not experience any technical problems.

The management would like to poll our racing community as to whether the turn 2 exit gate should be kept or removed. Please vote below. You must be logged in to vote. You can only vote once per account and per computer, after which you will see the current poll results.

(C’mon folks – VOTE!! You wanted an effective avenue of feedback to our management, and this is a good start. – Webmaster)

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If you have any other pro or con points about this issue that should be listed above, or any comments or suggestions, you can send them to the webmaster via the Contact menu on this site.

Lakeport Speedway has launched a new site for the sale of Racing Images and Souvenirs. Just like the big white trailer, but without the parking hassle in your home.

On this site, you will be able to find galleries of images taken by our track photographer throughout the season, as well as lists of souvenirs and other goodies you can purchase online.

Keep checking in throughout the season after each event for new pictures, and as new items become available.