This is How You Prep Tires For Racing

Kenny Wallace shows you how he preps his dirt racing tires.
#kennywallace #nascar #racing
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[@FloridaManRacer]

This is the kind of thing TV needs to show fans in general in ANY form of the sport. I remember watching ESPN in the early 90's and Jerry Punch would have the Quaker State Track Facts every week they had a NASCAR race. He'd go in and show how teams would make a wedge or panhard bar adjustment and what actually happened when you turned the wrench in the rear window. Or how a team would insert a spring rubber into a spring etc. We don't get those visuals anymore. We were informed race fans. We could see your brother come down pit road, make a half round wedge adjustment and know he was loose or tight without Benny, Ned or Bob having to tell us on TV. We knew if we heard a spring rubber was going in, what that meant and what the driver was dealing with on track. We know NONE of that stuff anymore. It was EMBARRASSING to me that someone asked me about what a team was doing on the Next Gen car during the Bristol race and I couldn't explain because we know NOTHING about these cars and their adjustments mid-race as fans anymore.

[@drewpierce2273]

That is a great analysis of what I remember NASCAR to be also. Thanks.

[@fivestar8337]

Love the tech and your sense of humor

[@Peg_Leg9n]

Wrapping the tire also helps prevent the tire from drying out while sitting or in the sunlight 💯🤷‍♂️👍👏

[@jjs1982.]

Kenny! You've got the radio blaring in the background and the copyrighted music is clearly coming through. Watch out for that - your video could be taken down for copyright infringement. Keep up the good work - your videos are so much fun!

[@Okzide.]

Kenny Wallace thank you for these videos, I am a new driver with not much experience or knowledge to help me at the track and your videos have made a huge difference!

[@MechanicVanPelt]

Thank you. I learned the correct way today. Love this content. I am 62 and still learning. I like this tire prep better.

[@michaels3093]

Thank you Kenny for the wonderful video. Very informative!

[@stevesanders8172]

Just read your article in Speedway Illustrated. You are an inspiration. Keep on truckin Herman!

[@JamesDedmon]

Awesome video. Probably the best description on how to do tires. Thanks for taking the time for showing this

[@user-ey7jo8cz1o]

I sure learn a lot from you Kenny, thanks.

[@THATSWHATSUP.615]

Keep the content coming Kenny, we love it!!!

[@retirednavyrob]

Great seeing how stuff is done. Thanks for sharing

[@dipstickjr1984]

Many years ago I worked for the late great Gary Oliver. He was a dirt legend but at the time was running asphalt Late Models at Hickory. NC. I'll never forget him showing me how to shrink/stretch a tire. We went on a very successful tour that year

[@tomstrawmyer4980]

I really enjoy these kind of videos! 😁 Keep them going!

[@Gforcebond]

That's some good stuff herman keep it comin

[@danieltremel4066]

Glad you shared this!

[@kochykoo]

Kenny Wallace ain't it a little late to try and reuse your rubbers🤣🤣🤣

[@bobaboey]

The Kenny’s Variety Show! Good stuff! Nice to some tire prep!

[@DannyWalker247]

Kenny I love the shop videos. Keep them coming.

[@barrymuskus67]

LOVE your videos Herman. VERY informative

[@user-ny7cs2dx1g]

Tire maintenance is a very demanding and dirty job. I’ve done my fair share throughout the years, but haven’t done it since 2010. Had to stop because of my back issues. I still love dirt racing the best. I moved to Florida from Iowa in 2021. I miss the Midwest dirt racing, but I get to go to the dirt races here in Florida in the winter.

[@MikeBrown-ii3pt]

I grew up in the shop and at the local tracks helping my uncle with his dirt late model back in the late 70s and early 80s. I can't even count how many sets of tires I flipped back then. Of course, we did it the hard way back then lol! As i got older, I was bitten by the drag racing bug but, I still love the local dirt track races.

[@christophergritti9873]

Hey Kenny, thanks for the video. This is really interesting!

[@georgew.5639]

Herman! You know what you are doing. And your level success definitely bears that out. 😊

[@bobaboey]

Love when Kenny starts with his fans/viewers. Stir the pot Kenny! Keep stirring!

[@Defcon666]

3:45 my new hypnotic sleep aid !

[@charlessommers7218]

Thanks for the info

[@bobbybutler4199]

KOOL Kenny :) ! Great "how to" prep clip !! Have a wonderful Wednesday !!!

[@duckmangooo7376]

Very educational.

[@johnpatty7489]

Getter done Kenny love the tech

[@motorlibro]

I used to work for Goodyear race tire dealer. We never changed the direction of rotation on a race tire - we always marked takeoffs for folks who bought our used stuff too.

[@ejharrop1416]

Hey Herm, thanks for keeping it real,enjoyed it. One man operation is the best until you got to fire some dumb SOB 😅. Thank you for putting yourself out there for all the experts to review. Cheers mi amigo.

[@elkinsinboxinc]

You've got this stuff down to a science.

[@bark1x]

Kenny when i look at that tire i see it as directional tire. You would run the tire when the points out to free the car up and with the v part out to tighten the can up cause it will give more of a edge to bite on.

[@tochamp5441]

We do the same thing in dirt karting

[@Digger818]

Kenny reminds me of Jerry Reed as the Snowman when he gets excited

[@tommydubz]

I don't watch as much as I should, but I love your content....especially stuff like this for us laymen lol

[@affarabelli1281]

Kenny your a genius 👏

[@given0fox968]

I think this is my favorite video.

[@mikes1292]

Bad ass equipment

[@markmclaughlin2690]

Now that was interesting!

[@tools6106]

Been there done that, pro4 dirt car we could and did get by with lesser tires. Same prep basically we were not allowed to groove our tires but we polished the edges with 60 grit. Also we used bleach white on side walls so our car always looked like it had new tires, pure mind games, for the young kids we raced against! 😂😂

[@Ozark-River-Banks]

GROOVY! Interesting to know these racers ‘tidbits.”

[@shanecreech3560]

I love it

[@ronpatava]

Hey kenny you should come up to the benton county iowa bullring sometime and race, be awesome to meet you!

[@noahsathletics]

Do you put cold air or warm air in that tire? Or do you have a special air you put in that tire from special knowledge from nascar.

[@michaelmatern1284]

Kenny your videos are no BS I wish you could put out 3 a day this younger generation doesn’t get it come on

[@artnascar9748]

Herman this will blow your mind on our payment Sprint car with the wing we run 7. 3/4 of staggered. Curious you run about two and a half to 3 in on the modified.?✌️🇺🇸

[@BwizzleAquatics]

Cool.

[@TheHitman5c]

Kenny is hilarious

[@JR-xj2vr]

When flipping, no issues with the direction of the tire now rotating in the opposite direction?

[@thetruth1446]

How many laps do you put on a tire, from brand new to trashing it?

[@ryanvila1837]

I was wondering what grinders are used for

[@user-od1du3lo9x]

Looks like your ready for supper nationals in Boone!!

[@ryanreeves5441]

I haven’t seen an old 40/40 tire machine in years. Most people don’t even know how to use one of those let alone know what it is. If you don’t know how to use one that thing can hurt you bad.

[@bobbeazley2502]

Awesome details. But Kennnnnnny, throwing out the Mac tool impact plug. What about the grinder/polisher you were using. Top secret stuff. 🤣 keep running high wide and handsome!

[@Goodtime711]

Respect 🫡

[@CNSTAdventures]

I thought it was nuts and bolts😂😂 I love the vids though !!’

[@bradtate158]

I wish i could meet you some day.

[@ClarkBoyzRacing]

Apparently Austin needs to use a tire machine 🤣

[@paulwoelber5351]

When those markers write crappy like that shake them so the ink will flood the tip again, but be careful cause the ink can speckle your surroundings.

[@DavidClark-vu3dw]

What were you thinking with your pose in the thumbnail, that you were spider-man or something? 🤣🤣🤣

[@staffy8832]

Seems like a decent deal for a tire machine

[@KING-FU]

Herm is the kind of guy I’d hang out with and gladly volunteer to help. However, I’d have to charge his Brother. 🤣

[@dustinbuckley30]

I gotta meet this guy seems like a down to earth good guy not a stuck up prick

[@atheplummer]

Herman, not here to bust your balls, but rather share what I've learned about tires, and believe it or not, what I learned was from Horse Barrel Racing and the type of horseshoes the horses wear for competition. Since I don't race anymore, I'll just share what I've learned so that you and others who read this may experiment with what I've learned. Maybe my results can be duplicated to confirm my theory. First off, (it's common sense, but needs to be said to set the stage for knowledge) what I learned about barrel racing is, there's a groove cast into the bottom of the shoe for traction on dirt. A groove that is only on the 1/3 of the round part of the shoe (front) is for track racing horses, because they need traction for forward motion (they aren't turning tight corners). The reason the groove is in the shoe is, it fills up with dirt & the best traction on dirt is.... well... dirt. For a barrel racing horse, the dirt groove is cast in the shoe & it goes almost the entire shape of the shoe, so when the horse turns around the barrel, the side bite for the horse is improved & can turn tighter corners, without its hooves slipping out from under it. With that knowledge, this is where I've come up with my theories. And it worked very well for me. Now, one caveat... I'm one of those racers that could never afford new tires for the feature, so I'd buy used (nearly worn out) from guys like you... I'd be a buyer of the tire you featured in this video, after you used it, if it still had a bit of life left. I usually liked a hard tire for the RR, soft ones would never last on a dry slick feature race. Ok, I know this is getting a bit long, but please bare with me. On a heavy track, I like unsiped tires with wide grooves in them, to catch more of the soft dirt/slightly muddy... Great side bite, because that's what my car lacked in the first place (it had great forward bite, & I've always assumed that's because of my increased pinion angle + the fact that I ran a 468 Chevy engine that made 630 lb/ft torque at 3200 RPM, & 437 HP at 5700 with a legal 500 holley. I usually ran between 6400 RPM on heavy tracks (Montgomeray speedway was my home track) & 6700 RPM on dry slick. I found that both RR & RF would benefit from a 45 degree sipe on dry slick. I was always told that siping a tire makes it run cooler... It may, but that's not why I liked siped tires on dry slick. I like to run them, because on a dry slick track, the track is very hard, but with a fine layer of dry dust on top of it. Hence why they call it 'dry slick'. My theory is that as you corner around dry slick track, the fine dust acts like tiny ball bearings between the track & the tire tread. By siping the tires, as you corner, the tiny sipes actually open up and give a place for the ball bearings (dust) to become captured in the tread & cleaning the track surface from the layer of dust, giving much better traction. Why? Because just like barrel racing horses & unsiped tires get traction from the grooves filling up with dirt, on a dry slick track, the best traction is 'rubber on rubber' (same reason drag racers run slicks on a asphalt track). By the sipes opening up the dirt doesn't have to travel all the way across the tire lug before it gets to a groove, It has a place to go 1/2 way through the tire lug, so at least the trailing 1/2 of the lug gets the desired rubber on rubber traction. Now here's one of the reasons I'm sharing this with the world... I have thought of another experiment to try. Instead of running a grinder with 26 grit in a circle, How about using a autobody 'straight line' sander, on a 45 to the rotation of the tire. This would cause tiny grooves in the tire lug, effectively making many 'mini-sipes' for a place for the dust (ball bearnings) to go too so the tire can get better rubber on rubber traction. Just food for thought... Have a great day.

[@tillman40]

Shop Kenny is the only one I can listen to

[@JDMc2.0]

Kenny, wondering about 5:10 (hard 60) tire is that the durometer? Thanks

[@JJ-1-1]

No that's the Hoosier build number.

[@kevinmoore1401]

How many times can you flip them before you have to get another tire?

[@atheplummer]

That depends on how abrasive the dirt is at a particular track.

[@rodneyharouff5739]

👍

[@mattfetter4123]

Where is your kiddy pool , for soaking at Kenny?

[@RegularJoe419]

Dang Herman ain’t you “tired” now? 😆

[@rodneyrhonemus3197]

how long is a tire good for, as in how many races? I dk why but i just feel like every time you hit that tire with the sander youre just losing rubber off the tire, that you could be losing on the track. I understand youre prepping to get the tire back to "like new" rubber, but after about 5-7 laps, wont it be back to how it was anyhow? Idk feel like that rubber is just better left on the tire but i dont know my ass form a hole in the ground when it comes to dirt racing.

[@atheplummer]

Using a tire, heating it up, causes the tread to glaze over, reducing grip. Grinding the glaze off the tire, freshens it back up to near new.

[@ShaunHensley]

Running it is how it got glazed in the first place

[@wegottafishdude]

🤘🏻😎🤘🏻 Awesome stuff, dude You would think with all that NASCAR money you would just go out and buy new tires and you wouldn’t have to do all that stuff to them 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Just busting balls, Kenny 🤙🏻✌🏻

[@rickycorbin4626]

I'm sure that guy didn't want that out there. Most people don't reveal the good deeds they do

[@DTFP23]

You forgot the step of soaking them in the kiddie pool.

[@moronandmoronaccessories]

We all know you got that tire machine from Rusty's stapled friend's NASCAR money.

[@alfee9411]

Hehehehe 😂

[@michaellaughlin8457]

not a racer just enjoy the videos herm! 🤗👍

[@jake-ps3bq]

I never knew that you could do all that to a mud tire.

[@kanyecheedar9170]

The Eagles are sick

[@josephlewis4976]

Kenny why don’t you give us a tour of Schrader’s shop, and “ a day in the life of Kenny Schrader” ?

[@gregorybobbett4048]

I have a Coats 10 10 10 tire machine. My wife found it and bought it for me. Love that women.

[@georgedreisch2662]

Thinkin’ y’all’d wanna put a date on them, as well…

[@robertaue9509]

Why not use them for a feature

[@lincolnstovall9471]

Are picky or petty😊LOL herman have you ever used a bert trans?

[@undergroundironentertainment]

That's why dragracers do burnouts,

[@tomlusty8376]

Did you know you can temove tatoos with that disc grinder ?

[@MacMcClelland5230]

Where's the Coffee Break out the Debullshitter

[@Stearns-hj8ki]

Why do you prep tires

[@animal_SS70]

Herm, that is NOT 11 minutes for Denny Hamlin. We'll go with Josh Williams

[@jimgreish9190]

So does wrapping the tires help soften them?? 😂😂

[@doric_historic]

True Scots watch their pennies, Wallace must have some Scottish DNA in him...

[@dougvinduska9593]

I rotate and rebalance every 5000 miles.

[@ToddsterSaw]

All the racing crews 'groove' the tires. Why doesn't the manufacturer just make them that way?

[@OldHickoryAndyJackson]

Lets see how you doctor tires for more grip

[@JJ-1-1]

He said he doesn't chemical prep tires...And he is too high profile to get caught with cheated up tires that destroy his channel.

[@OldHickoryAndyJackson]

Kenny's channel was destroyed as soon as he started one

[@budd1814]

Funny:)

[@jtea84]

How many folks paused the video at 3:11

[@scottherbert4558]

gee your old 60 really, regards 60 (september)

[@theadmiral5425]

So you wrapped those tires just so you could write a note on it......what the hells wrong with a piece 100mph tape if that's the only reason.

[@MrLiafail]

Kenny it would expand your view of Racing. Women's racing is here and everyone now has accepted them in some fashion. Abby Steiner is Amazing in women's foot racing if you could interview her it would be a monumental move for you expanding your viewers. Even if you decide not to do an interview. You got to see this woman and how she is breaking all the rules in women's foot racing. These days athletes are worried about playing too many minutes. Abby just races almost twice as much as the other top athletes. She will run the hundred yard dash and in an hour run a relay but in the relay she is liable to set a new record She was in school in Kentucky and really seems to be good people. But Kenny she has a huge heart not often found and dedication that is rarely found in the world today. She competes when she's hurt and doesn't let anyone know she is hurt. Kenny look into her story it will be an inspiration to you. I promise. I am an old NASCAR fan. Thnx to you and all the NASCAR people for special time's for me. Riley Gaines is another female Racer. What a story. If we decide to choose sides I would do everything in my power to make these two my first picks!