SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/86038
Facility&Operations above the string as viewed from the bleach- ers. time to roll out the patterns. As we struggle to pull the huge sheets of carefully folded and rolled plastic out of the barrels, we are over- come by the stench of stagnant water that has been sealed in the barrel for months while stored in the Florida heat. There is no time to dry out these patterns; we have to put them away wet. After we unfold the pattern, we pull it tight against the string and center it to the mark. Then pull the corners tight and staple one side. Then one of us will start stapling the top side and another will staple the bot- tom, then the other end. Once stapled tight, we "dot" the pattern with white turf paint. When complete, the plastic sheet pattern is immediately removed. The patterns are al- ways folded the same way for storage which makes it much easier to lay out. Folds are al- ways left to right toward pit exit, then rolled toward the bleachers. This process is repeated until all patterns have been dotted in the grass. Due to the heat and bright sun, we want to finish the layout before lunch to avoid burning the grass through the clear plastic sheeting. The next step is to string all straight lines within the logo. Kenny believes that the logo should look as good at ground level as it does from the bleachers or the press box cameras or even from the blimp. He does not like crooked lines. All straight edges are strung as are the tops and bottoms of all let- tering. This really is the difference in an av- erage looking logo and a masterpiece. The many tight strings are one reason why it is very important to wear high top, waterproof boots when painting logos with Kenny. Of course you want to keep your feet dry but also to keep from getting your ankles cut by the strings when you trip over them. The rest of the day is spent spraying Now that we have the logo locations, it's and tips in water and switch to the really im- portant work of exercising the huge bass in Lake Lloyd. white paint. We run 2 guns from each pump so we are always working in pairs on each logo. While spraying white, we will dust the areas that will be yellow with white as a base coat since yellow does not cover green grass very well on its own. By just dusting these areas, it is still easy to see the edges of the areas that will be painted yellow later. We will spend the rest of Sunday painting white. At the end of the day Sunday, we put the pumps 24 SportsTurf | October 2012 LONG WEEK AHEAD When we arrived at 7 am Monday, I was surprised to see that the Florida humidity had turned our bright white logos to a dull, almost light gray shade. I could tell this was going to be a long week! It is still quiet on the track except for the occasional clank of a dropped tent pole and the low drone of forklifts and trucks coming from the parking lots outside the track. One pump was changed to yellow and the other to red. Even though it is fairly easy to change to different paint colors on these airless machines, it is easier yet to just move the pump from one logo to the next painting the same color at each logo. While Justin and Tony moved through the infield painting yellow at each logo, Kenny and I stayed with the two Coke Zero logos painting red then we moved our pump to the other logos painting the small amount of red in each of them. With such large logos, it is important to apply paint very evenly and as lightly as possible. When fin- ished, we want the logo to look like a uni- form carpet of color. This means we must avoid "caking" the paint on the grass by misting on the paint from multiple direc- tions. This is tricky, especially along the edges of letters and shapes. With almost 60,000 square feet of logos to paint in 4 days, there is no time to use boards to create crisp edges. Instead, we must have a steady hand on the gun and always be aware of where you are in the huge sea of col- ors. When Justin and Tony finish yellow, they switch to light blue. Kenny and I are in red most of the day, switching to black to finish the day. But of course, the day is not com- plete until Lake Lloyd provides more lunker largemouths. Tuesday morning, the track is no longer silent as the seemingly endless fleet of trac- tor-trailers arrives to unload and mount tires on wheels. Network people have now in- vaded the space around our 7-acre island of art to string cables and mount cameras and microphones. Kenny and I stay in black most of the day while Justin and Tony finish blues then switch to black also. The winds have re- ally picked up today. When you are trying hard to mist paint wind is your enemy espe- cially with black paint. All colors are now first coated and since another mist coat is yet to be done, some black overspray will not cause much of a problem. However, it is im- portant to avoid the overspray onto the green bermudagrass by spraying into the wind along the unpainted edges. It's Wednesday morning, July 4, and the Daytona International Speedway has become a city in itself both inside and outside the track. Network trucks, race team souvenir trucks, exhibit trucks, RV's and tents are fill- ing the space around the outside. The infield has swollen with team haulers, drivers' motor coaches, more network trucks and NASCAR's fleet of support trucks and equip- ment. NASCAR officials are measuring and setting up timing equipment, walking the track to inspect the asphalt and the walls. Safety trucks and jet dryers are arriving from Talladega, Charlotte, Chicago and Michigan. Tour trams are passing through pit lane and winding around to the start finish line so eager tourists can take pictures in front of flag stand. No one in this city has taken this hol- iday off, especially the tired and sore logo paint crew. By the way, NASCAR.COM patterns are still missing 48 hours before the track goes "hot," the entire left side of the infield remains void of logos, Kenny remains cool while me and everyone else in this temporary city wonder how he can possibly pull this one off. Justin and Tony pressure up their pump to go from black paint to clean water then back to white. They will start the second mist coat of white on everything. This coat of white is critical es- pecially for the giant Daytona letters. This coat must be applied lightly and very evenly so the letters do not show different shades of white. the Sprint Cup and As Kenny is preparing to lay out and hand outline the remaining logos, an Angel arrives from the shipping and receiving building to deliver two 55-gallon drums filled with the patterns for the remaining logos. I noticed Kenny kneel down and rest his head in his hand. He said he was just stretching his back but I know what he was really doing! Justin and Tony arrived quickly to help us lay out and "dot" both patterns. I had been doing some time lapse video work earlier in the week, but here was an opportunity to set up www.sportsturfonline.com