(WOMR file photo)

James Buescher slithered through, around, and in between, the carnage that resulted from the pack racing, the impatience, and the will to win the Drive 4 COPD Saturday at the Daytona International Speedway. As Buescher entered turn #3 on the last lap he was racing for 11th place.  However, . . . → Read More: Buescher Wins The Drive 4 COPD]]>

(WOMR file photo)

James Buescher slithered through, around, and in between, the carnage that resulted from the pack racing, the impatience, and the will to win the Drive 4 COPD Saturday at the Daytona International Speedway.
As Buescher entered turn #3 on the last lap he was racing for 11th place.  However, he was able to skillfully elude all the wrecking carnage and was the first race car to cross the start/finish line!

It was Buescher’s first Nationwide Series victory and ,needless to say, a huge victory it was for this young Texas native.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Buescher said of the win. “They all piled up in front of me and we made it through. It’s hard to describe the feeling when you make it through the wreck and you’re the only guy – you don’t see anyone in front of you and you’re coming to the checkered flag. It’s pretty incredible and I’ll definitely never forget it.”

Elliott Sadler finished second and Brad Keselowski was third. Austin Dillon was fourth and Tayler Malsam was fifth.

There were several yellow flags that involved many cars, kind of a return to “the big ones” that are associated with pack racing.

The final restart came with just three laps to go, and the excitement was about to be unleashed!

Kurt Busch again led the field on the restart. Right behind him in the pack, and in fourth place, was little brother, Kyle Busch. Next to Kurt on the front row was Stewart, who had Elliott Sadler  behind him.

The Busch brothers got the best jump and went low. At the white flag, they had a four-car lead over Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne.

As the front-runners headed into Turn 4 on the final lap, a big wreck at the front took out the Busch brothers, Stewart, Bayne and Logano among others.

“I don’t know where to start,” Kyle Busch said. “I don’t know what happened, but great race car. Phenomenal job by the guys. We kind of battled back from being behind much of the day. Ran up front for much of the day too, so we were kind of back and forth a little bit. Just a great race pushing with Kurt (Busch) and working with him an awful lot and being able to get up there. I thought we had the race won and then those guys were coming on the top and I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s see where we settle in here.’ I thought when they all crashed up high that I was clear.

“I shot low, as low as I could and then somebody tagged me in the back and just hooked me dead right. It was a really, really hard hit and then there was a few more after that. It just seemed like they kept coming. I swore when they all went up high – I was the leader for a second and I was like, ‘I won this thing, it’s over – I can see the checkered flag.’

“Then within a split second of that I was in the fence and wrecked. I can’t say enough about Monster Energy and everybody there – all the guys that built this thing. It was a fast Camry. It was fun.”

Buescher, who is driving for Turner Motorsports in both the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series this season, led 10 laps before finishing 17th in Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250. He now has two wins at the “World Center of Racing” with the previous triumph coming in the 2009 ARCA season opener.

“I can’t think of another race track that I would rather this (win) be at,” Buescher said. “Daytona is historical – everybody knows that – and every driver dreams of winning here. My goal as a young driver was to be able to race at Daytona in NASCAR and I’ve done that several times, but now I’ve finally won here. I don’t know how to put it into words.”

Check out the unofficial race results for The Drive 4 COPD from Daytona.

From my seat at the track, this was one of the most exciting Nationwide races at Daytona that I have personally witnessed in quite a few years!

What did you think?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Brian Lawdemilk)

Realizing that he was the cause of the third attempt at a green-white-checker, rookie John King, was more than likely rehearsing his apology/begging for forgiveness speech, both would be the same in this case, to Johnny Sauter.

Contact between King and Sauter in the second attempt at the . . . → Read More: A Rookie Mistake Nets A Rookie Victory]]>

(photo courtesy Brian Lawdemilk)

Realizing that he was the cause of the third attempt at a green-white-checker, rookie John King, was more than likely rehearsing his apology/begging for forgiveness speech, both would be the same in this case, to Johnny Sauter.

Contact between King and Sauter in the second attempt at the green-white-checker turned Sauter around and crashing into the retaining wall at the try-oval.  That rookie mistake by King brought out the red flag and stopped the racing while all the scattered debris was cleaned up.  The rad flag stoppage just added more time for King to rehearse his thoughts of why and how he could have been so careless.

“Golly, I flat-freakin’ wrecked him,” a disconsolate King radioed into his crew during the time-out.

King was practically speechless after scoring his first win on DIS’ famedhigh-banks after only eight series starts. “Man, I’m a rookie, I’m not supposed to be here,” said King, a 23-year-old resident of Kingsport, Tenn. “This is unreal. This Red Horse Racing team is unbelievable. From the owner to the tire guy – everybody does their job. I don’t know what to say. I have never driven anything so smooth in my life as that race truck. It’s just a dream come true.”

“I apologize to Johnny Sauter. I shouldn’t have been there because I am so inexperienced. (But) here we are,” King said – from all places – Gatorade Victory Lane after an improbable win in the series’ 2012 season-opener. “I closed-up on him (Sauter) real fast. I was in the trioval and I couldn’t get off of him. I closed-up on him too fast and just wrecked him. Just inexperience, just a rookie mistake.”

King was practically speechless after scoring his first win on DIS’ famedhigh-banks after only eight series starts. “Man, I’m a rookie, I’m not supposed to be here,” said King, a 23-year-old resident of Kingsport, Tenn. “This is unreal. This Red Horse Racing team is unbelievable. From the owner to the tire guy – everybody does their job. I don’t know what to say. I have never driven anything so smooth in my life as that race truck. It’s just a dream come true.”

Red Horse racing was formed in 2005 by former Mobil Oil executive Tom DeLoach and former Darrell Waltrip crew chief, and ESPN commentator Jeff Hammond.

Despite his late-race miscues, King showed plenty of patience after losing the draft early in an event scheduled for 100 laps. “Just stayed with it. Got lucky, got a caution and got back up,” said King, driver of the No. 7 Toyota Tundra. “Stayed right on my yellow brick road (the double bottom line) and just made it up towards the front.”

By this time, what was left of the original 36-truck field was pacing toward the third/final GWC, King was definitely up on the wheel. “I was ready for them (the laps) to be over real quick,” said King, whose previous career-best finish of 15th was recorded in his series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2010. “Timothy (Peters) stuck with me and pushed me right to the end. I’ve got great teammates.”

As usual, the Friday night truck race at Daytona was a crowd pleaser.  It has long-held its own against the Saturday Nationwide race, and is a great precursor to “The Great american Race”, the Daytona 500!  Even though the race is only 100 laps, 250 miles, the racing was fast, the lights were shimmering, and the crowd was all in!

I will always maintain that this race is the best bang for the buck over any race during the entire race season!  For those of you that may be contemplating a trip to Daytona nest year, it is my suggestion that you incorporate The Duels on Thursday, the Camping World Trucks, the Nationwide, as well as, “The Great American Race”, too!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Brian Lawdemilk)

Today actually launched the beginning of the race to get into the race.  That is, in fact, what the Gatorade Duels are.  Even though the drivers qualified last Sunday, there was only two drivers that received guaranteed slots for Sunday’s Daytona 500.  Those two drivers were Carl Edwards . . . → Read More: The Gatorade Duels]]>

(photo courtesy Brian Lawdemilk)

Today actually launched the beginning of the race to get into the race.  That is, in fact, what the Gatorade Duels are.  Even though the drivers qualified last Sunday, there was only two drivers that received guaranteed slots for Sunday’s Daytona 500.  Those two drivers were Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, the two fastest qualifiers from Sunday.  The rest of the qualifiers basically had to race their way into the 2012 Daytona 500 via the Gatorade Duels today.

Duel race number one was for the cars that qualified in the odd numbers positions, 1, 3, 5, 7, etc,.

With all the rule changes that have been put into place in the off-season, the first race was very exciting with a combination of two car tangos, and the pack racing of old.

Thursday’s victory was Stewart’s first with crew chief Steve Addington, who joined Stewart-Haas Racing during the offseason. On Sunday, they’ll attempt to claim the one prize that has eluded the three-time Cup champion — a victory in the Great American Race.

“Obviously the fact that we’ve won 17 times here and not won on the right day is proof it’s good momentum, but it’s no guarantee,” Stewart said after the race. “It’s nice to come here, especially for Steve and I, being our first race together, to be able to come out and have two really good strong and solid races back-to-back [including a second-place run in last Saturday's Budweiser Shootout].

“It’s good momentum for the crew, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing, to carry that momentum from last year. It gives you confidence going into Sunday — It’s a long race on Sunday, and a lot can happen.

“I think we showed the rest of the field that we have a car that has good speed. That’s a really strong point, just like Trevor Bayne showed last year he had a strong car, so people wanted to go with him. Hopefully that will work for us on Sunday, too.”

The caution flew after Stewart had led the field to the white flag, with race runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. in hot pursuit. Contact from Aric Almirola’s Ford launched Patrick’s Chevrolet toward the inside SAFER barrier on the backstretch, and impact with the wall was hard enough to lift all four wheels of Patrick’s car off the pavement.  Danica will race in the Daytona 500 via some back-room dealings to purchase the 2011 points from the Tommy Baldwin Racing #36 team.  However, due her wreck on the last lap of the #1 Duel, Patrick will start at the back of the starting field.

Kenseth got a huge push from Jimmie Johnson in the outside lane, as the duo approached the start/finish line to take the white flag in the second Duel. Biffle, who held the lead at that point, moved up the track to block Kenseth, but Kenseth and Johnson dived to the inside and used their momentum to clear Biffle.

“With that push, it would never have gotten done,” Kenseth said. “Greg lost his drafting partner. We were able to separate him and the No. 78 [Smith], and we had such a huge run that Greg was kind of a sitting duck. I was going so fast with Jimmie’s push that we were able to make it past.”

So race fans, today at the track the weather was hot, and the racing was hotter!  Tomorrow the Camping World Trucks get their 2012 season underway with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 Friday night at Daytona.  That race is at night, and always provides some of the best racing during Daytona Speedweeks.

(workingonmyredneck file photo)

My cyberspace buddy and fellow NASCAR blogger, Bruce Simmons wrote an article on his web site, BruSimm.com about re-visiting the rules regarding the double yellow lines at Talladega and Daytona.

In the article, Bruce addresses the need for the double yellow line during the race, and WOMR concurs with . . . → Read More: Double Yellow Line Rules Need Refining]]>

(workingonmyredneck file photo)

My cyberspace buddy and fellow NASCAR blogger, Bruce Simmons wrote an article on his web site, BruSimm.com about re-visiting the rules regarding the double yellow lines at Talladega and Daytona.

In the article, Bruce addresses the need for the double yellow line during the race, and WOMR concurs with the need for that requirement.  It is for the safety of the drivers, and quite possibly the safety of the fans, as well, to have an “out of bounds” area.

Like Bruce, here at WOMR, I believe that the double yellow line should not play a factor when the checkered flag is waving for the drivers as they exit turn four racing for the win. When the drivers can see the checkered flag waving, then all paved surfaces should be in play!  Sometimes the faster race car might be the race car in second place coming to the checkered flag, and car gets stuck, blocked, or otherwise prevented from making the pass for the win.  For this reason, therefore, all the paved surfaces should be fair game for the win!

“Have at it boys”!

The best argument for this idea occurred at a Talladega race just a couple of years ago when Tony Stewart and Regan Smith were racing for the win.  As they raced out of turn four heading to the tri-oval, and the checkered flag, Tony Stewart was leading the race.  Stewart was leading and blocking the faster car of Reagan Smith.  Ultimately, Stewart ran Smith down below the double yellow line.  Brave and unnerved, Reagan Smith stayed on the gas, cut below the double yellow line, and avoided being involved in a potential “big one”, like the “Blazingly Bad” Brad Keselowski/ “Cousin Carl” Edwards  devastating crash in the next Talladega race.

Smith crossed the start/finish line slightly ahead of Stewart in the lead, but definitely down below the double yellow line.  However, NASCAR penalized Smith for going below the double yellow line, therefore, giving the victory to Tony Stewart.  The questions regarding the double yellow line have stirred every since that race, and its place in racing for the win.

In the spirit of the new “Have at it Boys” mentality of NASCAR, it might be worth it for NASCAR to revisit the double yellow line ruling, and quite possibly, re-define its importance on the final lap of the race at both Daytona and Talladega.  When the drivers comes to the checkered flag, it is the view here at WOMR that the double yellow line should be invisible and let them use all paved surfaces to try to win the race!

What is your view on the double yellow lines rules?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

The 375 acres that the Daytona International Speedway rest upon, near the Daytona International Airport was a swampy, muddy, snake infested piece of earth!  With that being said, it is important to trace the history of events that led up to Bill France wanting to build the biggest, . . . → Read More: The Building of The Daytona International Speedway]]>

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

The 375 acres that the Daytona International Speedway rest upon, near the Daytona International Airport was a swampy, muddy, snake infested piece of earth!  With that being said, it is important to trace the history of events that led up to Bill France wanting to build the biggest, fastest race track in the world.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the 26 mile of pristine beach that bordered Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach was a mecca for speed.  However, beach racing was dictated by the tides.  Additionally, the beach part of the racing area would get torn up and rutted from the heavy stock cars.  Moreover, beachfront development began encroaching on the racing area.  Still another problem with the site for racing didn’t allow for an adequate crowd control.

Dealing with all those problems pushed Big Bill France to begin considering building a new racing venue in the city of Daytona Beach.  Around 1953 France started kicking around the idea of building a facility that would be a high-banked superspeedway.  There were a few problems that both impeded and propelled these decisions.  Daytona Beach was in the throws of a declining economical environment.  That climate got the city fathers on board with Bill France, they saw the gold lining to this almost outlandish idea that France was trying to peddle.  France took his plan to the commissioners looking for the requisite land mass that would accommodate his big plans.

After a large land search it was decided that the 375 acres adjacent to the airport would, most likely, accommodate France’s dream race track.  Now there was the problem of the price.  France lobbied the city fathers very hard for an extremely favorable lease deal as being the sole deal maker/breaker!  The city came through for Bill France and negotiated a very favorable lease agreement allowing the next step to begin, that is to find financing for the project.

France searched high and low throughout the local area for financing, to no avail.  He then decided to contacted the owners of the Milwaukee Braves and the Detroit Tigers, they were not interested in his business venture.  However, he struck gold when talking to the Dallas Cowboys owner and Texas oilman, Clint Murchison, Jr. Murchison acquiesced and lent Bill France $600,000 to begin construction of the Daytona International Speedway!

Because France was focused on building a 2 1/2 mile track, and nothing smaller, there was one problem with the initial 375 tract of land that he acquired.  Adjacent to the tract of land was a dof racing track that impeded on the initial design of the track.  After lobbying heavily with the county commissioners, they were able to secure a piece of land from the dog track.  With that small wedge of land, and redesigning the layout of the track, the ultimate configuration of the race track was built to fit into the land mass, out of necessity. It had to fit between the airport, the dog track, and Hiway 92, which runs along the front stretch of the facility.

Now to connect some of the rest of the dots of this story.  Long before Bill France was the head of NASCAR, he worked as a mechanic at Lloyd Buick in Daytona Beach.  Lloyd Buick was owned by J. Saxton Lloyd, a very respected businessman in the local area.  Years later J. Saxton Lloyd would play a very important role in the construction of the superspeedway.

The banking in the turns was scheduled to be 31 degrees, which were patterned after the board tracks of the 20′s.  Remembering that one of the main advantages to the banking is that there were no bad seats at the facility.  Additionally, because of the banking, you could see the race cars all the way around the track.

France knew that Ford had built a similar facility at one of their proving grounds.  So the initial engineering had been done on the transitions from a 31 degree banking to the 17 degrees in the tri-oval.  It just so happened that Charlie Moneypenny worked with Ford on that project and had the engineering savvy.  Moneypenny also held a “critical” piece of local knowledge key to successful construction of this facility!

The Daytona area consisted of “ball bearing” type sand.  Moneypenny, who helped design the old Naval air station, knew that there was a deep deposit of maral, a clay type soil, lying beneath the top soil on this particular site.  By digging up the maral and using it for the base of the racing surface, it would allow the building of the high banks for the turns.

With the mining of the maral, there was left a huge hole that ran most of the length of the back straight-away.  What to do with that was a short-termed problem.  France decided to fill the hole with water and name it, Lloyd Lake, after his former boss and political ally, J. Saxton Lloyd!

Finding the maral allowed the construction to kick into high gear.  However, the next problem was to figure out just how to pave these monstrous 31 degree banks!  After some trouble shooting, it was decided that the paving machines had to be tethered or anchored to prevent those machines from sliding down the sides of the banking.

The original grandstands provided seating for 25,000.  However foresight allowed for the additional pilings that we put into place for further expansion.

The construction proceeded at break-neck speed for the era which it was constructed in.  France broke ground in November 1957 and the first race was ran in February 1959!  The rest is history, sport fans!

What is you thoughts on the monumental construction project known as the Daytona International Speedway?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Daytona International Speedway)

The NASCAR Sprint Cup teams were busy Wednesday and Thursday testing out the new racing surface that was just laid down.  It was officially billed as a Goodyear tire testing session, but it was all about the new racing surface at Daytona!  The driver’s consensus was that . . . → Read More: New Surface May Make For A Wild Daytona 500]]>

(photo courtesy Daytona International Speedway)

The NASCAR Sprint Cup teams were busy Wednesday and Thursday testing out the new racing surface that was just laid down.  It was officially billed as a Goodyear tire testing session, but it was all about the new racing surface at Daytona!  The driver’s consensus was that the new surface provides good grip, and therefore, great prospects for a very exciting 2011 Daytona 500 in February.

“I think it’s going to be a hell of a race,” Richard Childress Racing driver Jeff Burton said Thursday. “It’s going to be constant packs” of cars.

“Big packs, big action,” Penske Racing driver Kurt Busch said.

Also in consensus was the opinion that the new surface could produce excitement in the form of big wrecks!

“I don’t know the percentages but there’s no question the more cars in one bunch, the better the chances are for an accident,” Burton said.

Several drivers said the new surface makes DIS more similar to the other plate track on the schedule, Talladega Superspeedway, where the biggest of the big wrecks tend to occur.

“I would say that it (the new surface) would tend to increase (the odds of a big wreck) for the whole run,” Bobby Labonte said. “Before, the first part of the run was OK, 15 laps in (of a run), everybody starts spreading out a little bit. I’m not sure you’re going to see it spread out (this year in the 500).  It’s going to be more like Talladega.

“It’s going to lend to more pushing, more shoving, more drafting like that.”

Jamie McMurray, who drives for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, said the 500 could get really wild.  “I think what fans don’t see in the plate races is that we wreck about every lap,” McMurray, one of the best plate racers in the sport, said. “Something happens every lap that makes you flinch and it makes you think and you need to take a breath. And when you run really close together, it increases those chances.

“Everybody is going to run really close and really tight and you just got to hope you can make it to the end because the odds are going to be really good, I’d say” that more big wrecks are going to occur.

As exciting as the 500 may be, the Bud Shootout may be even better on the new surface.

“The Shootout is going to be crazy,” Burton said. “It’s just going to be nuts.”

“It’s amazing the job that they did here,” said Jeff Gordon, a three-time Daytona 500 champion. “It’s really smooth. It’s got a lot of grip. I think we learned a tremendous amount by being here.”

“Not only did we get a chance to really see what we’re going to be dealing with here in February for the Daytona 500, but it gets us prepared for the test coming up in January.”

“They smoothed out all the bumps,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 Daytona 500 champion. “The track is real smooth. It’s got a lot of grip. The track reminds me a lot like Talladega was like when they first finished it.

“The racing during the drafting was exciting and I think it is going to be a good show, a more exciting show for the fans because the cars are going to stay real tight on each other throughout entire runs.”

McMurray, who won last year’s 500, said the new surface and widened pit road will also make racing at DIS safer – for crews and drivers. He said that entry to the Daytona pits have been among the hardest in the sport. Kurt Busch called the old Daytona pits “treacherous”.

“It looks like green acres out there,” Busch said of the widen pits and bigger paves infield pads.

It appears that the new racing surface at Daytona has met the approval of all of those drivers that participated in the “Goodyear tire test”!  Notwithstanding, the one drawback of the speeds that were observed on Wednesday and Thursday, about 195mph, is that NASCAR is already looking at making the intake on the restrictor plate 1/64 of an inch smaller.  That will reduce the amount of air that is allowed into the carburetor manifold that mixes with the fuel.  The end results is less horsepower and slower speeds for the 2011 Daytona 500.

Nevertheless, WOMR can’t wait til the drop of the green flag on the 2011 Daytona 500, now just 65 days, 17 hours, and 34 minutes!  The excitement continues to build!

See you at Daytona!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Daytona International Speedway)

The repaving of the famous Daytona International Speedway is now complete and it is just a matter of a few days before NASCAR allows the first series of testing.

Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET, nearly 20 Sprint Cup teams are set to work with Goodyear officials and . . . → Read More: The Resurfacing Is Complete At Daytona]]>

(photo courtesy Daytona International Speedway)

The repaving of the famous Daytona International Speedway is now complete and it is just a matter of a few days before NASCAR allows the first series of testing.

Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET, nearly 20 Sprint Cup teams are set to work with Goodyear officials and engineers on a two-day tire test to determine the best rubber compounds and tire construction for February’s Speedweeks.

Among the drivers tentatively scheduled to participate in the test are 2010 Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray and his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammate Juan Montoya, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan, Matt Kenseth, Casey Mears, Trevor Bayne, Paul Menard, Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Todd Bodine, Regan Smith, Reed Sorenson and Brian Keselowski.

The test is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday with a lunch break tentatively scheduled around noon. During Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Goodyear’s Rick Campbell said the test might be complete in one day, but NASCAR and the speedway have scheduled a media event at noon Thursday including several drivers and track, NASCAR and Goodyear officials.

During the test, the public has free access to a section of the Oldfield Grandstand through the lobby of the Daytona ticket office.

The repave, only the second since the track was built in 1958, began on July 5, two days after the midsummer Coke Zero 400 Cup race.

In the project’s 23rd week, the paving crew wrapped up the final pass on the apron in Turns 1 and 2 late Friday afternoon, following some morning inclement weather. While all the paving is complete on the racing surface, skid pad, pit road and the apron, there’s still a punch-list of items being worked on to get the speedway capable of holding the first of at least four test sessions that are scheduled before Speedweeks’ racing events.

Included on that list are finishing touches to the re-installation of the Musco stadium lighting, such as connectivity and adjustments of the lights; the striping of the track has begun and is ongoing; the process of hanging the eight caution lights around the track is ongoing; installation of the electronic “scoring loops” is ongoing; and finishing touches are being put on the catch fence in all four turns.

Lane Construction, which repaved other International Speedway Corporation race tracks including Talladega Superspeedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Richmond International Raceway and Darlington Raceway, used an estimated 50,000 tons of asphalt — prepared in a temporary facility installed behind the track’s backstretch — to repave more than 1.4 million square feet of the speedway.

Speedweeks 2011′s scheduled start is the 49th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race on Jan. 29-30. It ends with the 53rd annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 20, the prestigious season-opening event to the Cup season

WOMR looked it up so that you wouldn’t have to!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

The crew from Lane Construction began the most challenging aspect of the 2010 Daytona Repave on Thursday morning – putting new asphalt on the steep 31-degree high banks of Daytona International Speedway.

(photo courtesy Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

“The World Center of Racing”, that high banked racing facility known as the Daytona International Speedway, is getting a much needed facelift.  Starting Sunday morning the race cars have been replaced by bulldozers, road graders, cranes, and other heavy-duty work equipment.  The race track is is being . . . → Read More: Daytona Getting New Racing Surface]]>

(photo courtesy Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

“The World Center of Racing”, that high banked racing facility known as the Daytona International Speedway, is getting a much needed facelift.  Starting Sunday morning the race cars have been replaced by bulldozers, road graders, cranes, and other heavy-duty work equipment.  The race track is is being dug up and resurfaced for the first time in 32 years!

The construction crews have began the process by removing the light poles, the SAFER barrier system, and the safety fences/crash wall.  The 57 light poles, the safety fence , as well as 8,300 linear feet of the SAFER barrier are being completely dismantled.

“It’s an historic moment for this facility, and we’re excited to see the work on this project begin,” said Robin Braig, president of the Daytona Beach, Fla., track that is the epicenter of NASCAR’s empire.

DIS’ entire layout , featuring its signature turns banked at 31 degrees, will be repaved as well as the skid pads, apron and pit road. Concrete will be used for the pit stalls. All of the existing asphalt will be removed down to the original 52-year-old lime rock base, which will be leveled before repaving begins.

An estimated 50,000 tons of asphalt will be used on a project that will pave 1,435,000 square feet, or about 33 acres. The facility occupies 480 acres, including an infield portion of 180 acres.

The repaving of DIS will remain true to NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.’s original vision, layout and geometry of a project that broke ground on Nov. 25, 1957 on land adjacent to the city’s airport. At the time, Big Bill’s plans were regarded as blueprints for a marvel of engineering and construction. On cue, DIS played host to a field of 59 cars for the inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959.

Amazingly, the racing surface has not been repaved since August 1978, a project that took several months and was finished in time for the 1979 Daytona 500.

The track is 40-feet wide, with an apron ranging from 12- to 30-feet. The track’s frontstretch measures 3,800 feet, including a 1,900-foot “chute” section from Turn 4 to the middle of the trioval, which is banked at 18 degrees. DIS’ “Superstretch” backstretch measures 3,000 feet.

Pit road measures 1,600 feet and has room for 43 stalls, each measuring 50 feet.

DIS’ 3.56-mile road course incorporates the trioval and a non-banked infield section.

A $20 million repaving originally was scheduled for 2012 but moved up following a problem with a pothole that forced two lengthy red flag stoppages during the Sprint Cup Series’ season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 14.

The parent International Speedway Corp. has contracted Lane Construction to repave DIS. The company has repaved several other ISC racetracks, including Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Richmond (Va.) International Raceway and Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Target date for completion is Jan. 1, 2011. Speedweeks 2011 will kick off with the 49th annual Rolex 24 at Daytona Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race on Jan. 29-30 and conclude with the 53rd annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 20.

See you at Daytona in February!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

NASCAR has announced that NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will use carburetor restrictor-plate openings of 1 1/32 inches for the July 3 event at Daytona International Speedway. The previous plate at Daytona last February was 63/64-inch. Monday’s announcement pertains only to next month’s Coke Zero 400 Powered . . . → Read More: Larger Restrictor Plates For Pepsi 400]]>

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

NASCAR has announced that NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will use carburetor restrictor-plate openings of 1 1/32 inches for the July 3 event at Daytona International Speedway. The previous plate at Daytona last February was 63/64-inch. Monday’s announcement pertains only to next month’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola the last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event on the current Daytona asphalt. The 2.5-mile, high-banked superspeedway will be repaved prior to the 2011 Daytona 500.

Each restrictor plate contains four openings which restrict air flow to the engine, thus slowing cars. Larger openings mean more air, and more speed. “We think this will be a needed boost due to the additional drag we’ve picked up since switching from a rear wing to a rear spoiler,” said NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton. Rule changes, announced Jan. 21, mandated switching from a wing mounted on the rear deck lid of NASCAR’s new car, back to a more traditional stock-car spoiler.

Carburetor restrictor plates are used only at Daytona and 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway. The 1 1/32-inch size openings will be the largest since the one-inch mandate in 1988, the first year the horsepower-reducing plates were mandated for yearly use in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition at Daytona. Teams used openings of 15/16-inch for this season’s spring race (April 25) at Talladega. That size was determined following a March 16 test at Talladega that helped answer several mechanical questions, among them, spoiler height and the restrictor-plate openings.

That should make for some interesting racing and drafting partners at Daytona in July!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!