Mike your not going to a Nascar event. I'm willing to learn so where are you getting the guidance you need to scuff those tires for measured mile runs?
Ron,
The tire preparation is my own guidance. I previously raced 1/8 scale gas (nitro methane) road race cars. During that period I did a lot of research on tires and coefficient of friction. In the 60's it was thought that a coefficient of friction greater than 1 between tires and the track could not be achieved. When dragsters went into sub 6 second runs scientist took another look. Tires can wear and leave black marks or they can leave rubber through the process of expulsion. Expulsion simplified is hot rubber adhering to both the tire and the track with subsequent shearing. You experience this at current top fuel events where there are tiny balls of tire material floating in the air during the entire run. The goal is to get the tire up to operating temperature quickly without exceeding the maximum operating temperature of the tire. In racing where sanctioning bodies allow tire preparation, siping is common. Siping is tiny slits in the surface of the tire made with razor blades. The sipes allow the tires to achieve racing temperature quicker. The Texas Mile has a notoriously short track. It is very important to me to have maximum traction both for acceleration and for stopping at this event. The hard outer layer on brand new tires form a boundary layer that resists the expulsion process. My tire preparation plan is to mechanically abrade this outer layer to promote best adhesion, no siping, no grinding away of material to lighten the tire, no grooving or liquids that soften the tires.
Note that as soon as Hoosier determines that you are racing landspeed they no longer offer any help. Hoosier has a very specific break-in procedure for these tires. As far as I can determine this is more about preserving the useful life of the tire than promoting maximum traction.
I attached a closeup photo of a rear tire that I took off the car. Note the ridges and "pits" in the surface of the tire. This is from the expulsion of tire material. It took a few passes on a prepared dragstrip to achieve this optimal tire surface as well as monitoring the tire wear, temperature and pressure at the mile events. Unfortunately I will not have the benefit of test & tune sessions to get these new tires up to optimal traction before we go to the Texas event. The Texas event has historically had a lot of entries which results in 2-3 passes per day. I would really like to have a few good runs at the event.