The new pavement at Daytona was completed earlier than expected and NASCAR and Daytona International President Joie Chitwood III wasted no time in checking out the success of the project. Chitwood said, ” We spared no expense in the repaving project. When you think about the elements you need to put on a race for your fans, and the teams, asphalt is definitely high on the list. For us we think it’s important that our fans know the asphalt we put down is going to provide a great racing surface.”
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[/media-credit]Lane Construction, which repaved other ISC race tracks including Talladega Superspeedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Richmond International Raceway and Darlington Raceway, used an estimated 50,000 tons of specially formulated asphalt to repave more than 1.4 million square feet of Daytona International Speedway.
It’s dark black color against the stark white walls in this weeks Goodyear tire test seemed to increase the excitement of fans and drivers a like. The first car to test the new pavement was fan favorite, Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was followed into the frey shortly by 17 other drivers. All of the drivers gave the new surface a thumbs up. Kurt Busch, driver of the number 12, Shell Pennzoil Dodge for Penske Racing commented that the surface was impressive and gave the track a new attitude. “It’s an impressive surface. There’s been a lot of hard work done. Everybody should be proud of what they’ve accomplished to resurface it, give it a new look. It’s just a new attitude. This is what 2011 will bring to start off our Sprint Cup season. Big, exciting time.” Jeff Burton added, “Daytona is still Daytona. they didn’t change the character of the track. It’s a smoother surface with more grip but it’s still Daytona.”
All drivers agreed that the new surface would have the cars running in tighter packs throughout the course of the race. “The Shootout is going to be crazy. It’s going to be nuts. It’s going to be wide open every lap, every time. When you decide to go, what hole you decide to go into. Yeah, I’m not going to say you’ll have more wrecks because you never know, but the possibility to have more big wrecks is certainly looming.” All drivers agreed that the chances for the “Big One” were increased by the new surface and it’s packing of cars in draft lines. Former Champion Bobby Labonte, said, “The spotters are going to be even more important with the new surface.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr, stated there was no fall off within the fuel run which would keep cars running in tight packs. Burton took it further saying there will be almost no way to lose the draft unless you have something happen in the pits or that causes you to have lift completely out of the gas.
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition was asked about the need to change the restrictor plate for the Daytona 500. He stated that at this time he didn’t see a need but there were a lot of considerations that would have to be taken in to account. He stated the top speed that they had seen so far during the test was 197 mph. He didn’t attribute that to any one team. If there were a need he stated he would only anticipate the change being small and in the range of 1/64th of an inch. The teams tested with the same plate that was used in Talladega.
Mark Martin was very impressed with the new tires that were used for the test. The tire Goodyear head of competition, Greg Stucker, said was the left side tire from Talladega and the right side tire was a hybrid mix of a compound used for intermediate tracks combined with the Talladega compound. Martin, stated he never thought that he would see the day that one set of tires could be used for 500 miles but this tire was close. But Strucker said that,” I think there’s a little bit of over exaggeration. That was early on. Once people get dialed in, they’re going to start stressing tires a little bit more. ”
Pemberton, stated that not all the teams were using the new E15 fuel engines but some were. ” Being that it’s 2010 still, we weren’t officially starting that fuel till 2011. So it was an option. Some teams had last year’s engines that they didn’t want to make sure to take them apart, do any up-fit for them in case they needed to for the new E15. Other teams have taken this opportunity to bring their latest and greatest and get some miles on it and see how it looks when they get it home and take it apart.”
The E15 fueling system, according to Jeff Burton is slower than the normal high test system. The reason for that is that the alcohol fuel burns cooler and thus slower. Although the engine produces more horsepower with the E15 because of higher compression ratings, it is harder on the internal engine parts. This should not according to Engine builders at Childress Earnhardt Racing Engines pose an issue with the engines in terms of longevity during races.
It was time . The old pavement had done it’s thing… Time to move on… The gas thing ? Make some cheeper better gas. Yea right… A 500 mile tire I would like to see that and I need a set or two…THANKS
I was wondering what changes would come about after the resurfaced the track. Sounds like the drivers were pretty happy with how it feels. That is good to hear. Now I really can not wait until Daytona. After reading your article sounds like they put on a pretty good show for all that was there to watch. Wish I lived closer and could have went and watched for away. I see you stated some of the teams used the new engines. Wondering what they will learn when they get the back to the shop. Be interesting to see how it went for them.