Yesterday I found myself in the position to watch a NASCAR race. I had the time. I had the snacks. I had the TV. The race happened to be the Daytona 500. The stars had aligned. I was finally set to become a full time fan. Most of the year will go by with me creating grand plans to watch the weekly races only to find my interest or time drawn away by other events. I really enjoy the idea of NASCAR but I just can’t seem to get started. I don’t believe 2014 is going to produce a change in my viewing habits but who really knows what the future will bring. Believe me, I tried. I watched all of the coverage until Fox put on Bob’s Burger reruns six hours after the race was set to start. During that time my mind often drifted to this gentleman with his smooth latin accent.
The best laid plans of mouse and man. In between the replay of last year’s Daytona 500 (tricked me for only a second) Fox would tease truck fans with shots of this fun looking contraption slowly moving around the waterlogged track. NASCAR fans will know what this rig is but for the rest let me explain what you are seeing. This is the Air Titan and it is the newest weapon in the war against rain delays.
The semi trucks at the bottom of the track contain generators and air compressors that deliver hot hair to the pickup truck pulling the drying devices. Water is either evaporated or forced down the track where it removed by a vacuum truck. The driving idea behind this setup was twofold, dry tracks in a shorter amount of time and remove jet dryers with their highly flammable fuel source. Check out the video below to see why not using jet fuel is a good idea.
Innovative! The Air Titan had it’s work cut out for it Sunday with a heavy and steady persistent rain but some would argue it kept the track dry enough to allow for racing later in the evening. Honestly I would have been fine watching it circle the track for hours on end.
Image Source: NASCAR