Striping
Allan Heydorn, Editor
HOW PAINT TESTING LED TO
RACETRACK STRIPING Advanced Pavement Marking’s work with KellyCreswell and Drew Paints opens new niche IN 2015, ADVANCED PAVEMENT Marking, West Olive, MI, was approached by Kelly-Creswell to test a new high-friction paint designed for use on racetracks. Not only was APM interested in doing the testing, but the market dovetailed nicely with the interests of co-owners Don Sokolow and Jeff Swendrowski, who at one time traveled the country racing boats in the American Power Boat Association tunnel hull series as “Team Perfect 10 Racing.”
APM, which had transformed from a parking lot striping contractor to striping almost exclusively for municipalities and airports, relies almost entirely on Kelly-Creswell conventional air striping equipment – integral to the story. So when Kelly-Creswell called, APM decided to tackle the testing. The result has opened a new business niche – racetrack striping – for APM, and likely a new market in the U.S. for the friction paint many racetracks require. After testing out the paint, APM painted two tracks in 2016, and heading into the 2017 season the contractor has four racetracks jobs on the books, one velodrome job, and at press time another few bids waiting acceptance.
A Unique Paint Sokolow says the paint, produced by Drew Paints Inc., Portland, OR, is a water-based formula infused with a high-friction grit that provides increased traction and safety for motorcycle and auto racing participants. Drew Paints is the only U.S.-based company producing a paint approved by both Federation Internationale de le’Automobile (FIA) and Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) racing bodies. Also, MotoAmerica, the motorcycle racing body, recommends all tracks in its series be painted with “circuit paint”. Until development of this new material, any time a friction paint was used
18 May 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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4/27/17 3:58 PM