NASCAR Rumors 2015: Kentucky Speedway Gets Additional Changes and Improvement
NASCAR will benefit from a newly renovated Kentucky Speedway after its officials made a Tuesday announcement about the plans for a "comprehensive renovation focusing on the racing surface of the track. Accordingly, the changes are expected to be finished before the NASCAR weekend event in July.
Speedway officials further stated that the changes will include increasing the banking in turns 1 and 2, drainage renovation, repaving the 1.5-mile tri-oval surface, and putting additional SAFER barrier. Of all those mentioned changes, the one about the tri-oval surface might be the most significant since it is widely considered as the roughest in NASCAR.
General manager Mark Simendinger talked about the reasons for the improvements. "Modifying turns 1 and 2 will present an exciting challenge to the drivers while addressing the issues of the track surface," he said. He likewise mentioned that the improvement in the drainage and adding a SAFER barrier are all about improvement safety during races.
More specifically, the project focused on repaving will be the first time for Kentucky Speedway to go for new asphalt since the race track opened for use in 2000 for the Camping World Truck Series event. Since then, the same track has been a regular venue for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the past half a decade. It is popular among NASCAR race fans because of its rough and challenging surface.
Once the improvements are completed, the Kentucky Speedway will then be a landmark for its distinctiveness and irregular design and layout. Unlike conventional race tracks for NASCAR, it will have pretty unique attributes. A great example is that Turns 1 and 2 will get banking of 17 degrees instead of 14, while Turns 3 and 4 remain the same.
Lastly, the improvement in safety includes the integration of 3,200 feet of Steel and Foam Energy Reduction Barrier system, something that other tracks are already doing, too.
