Pro Gp12

[GaryG]

Yes, I think it was a Hasse King.

[swiss]

I think the Hasse(ex-Centerville/"Cinderville" King) went in about 87.

It was a challenge but the original American King was the one that put hair on your chest.

[Stuart Koford]

I have run on Mike's king, Port Jeff and Flint. I though they all ran about the same. The big thing about Flint is that they keep the temperature very cold which make the initial spray glue very thick so that it holds the rubber well which makes for a lot of bite. Flint is the only track I have been on except Maryland where WXX runs well (except for Red of course where you need WX). Port Jeff is more of a WX+ track, WX on Red. Miamisburg is more of a WX track. How the track is spray glued, how much rubber is built up, and how the track surface is sanded also make a big difference.

I think racers too often run too hard of a tire. They think that to go fast they need to run as hard of a tire as possible, however that doesn't always lead to the most laps. Sure if you are full punched and bogged a harder tire will loosen things up and pick up your lap time, but punched with softer tires is faster then blipping with harder tires. If you run hard tires and have to take it easy for the first few laps of the race and after every track call you are not going to make more laps then if you ran softer tires. If you are on the hairy edge with rocks and every time you get in someones dirty air you fall off you are not coming out ahead.

You also need to consider the class of car you are running. C12 and G15 can run narrowed WXX because of the low horsepower in a good handling car. Box, G27L, G27 and Open will need rim tires and probably softer ones.

Of course driving style is a factor. If you like to drive every corner and can follow you car in traffic and still look out for wrecks then WXX are for you. If you want the car to be easy to drive and not quirky then WX or WX+ would be a better choice.