Yep, as some of the tracks age away, the time to repave comes sooner than one might hope. Pocono Raceway was last repaved back in 1995 and now it’s getting a redo to the track surface one more time.
Work on the giant 2.5-mile tri-oval has started, as of last Saturday and the improvement is going to involve “From the base up.”
The track isn’t just a NASCAR destination either. They also have car clubs, road course races and driving schools on the site, so everyone is going to benefit from the change.
If all goes according to plan, the track will be done and Goodyear tests will take place in April, which is just before the June NASCAR race.
Not to mention, that first NASCAR race will only be a 400-miler. That is a nice change.
But repaving does have its downsides.
As any long-time fan can attest to, when a track gets repaved, the old racing grooves get taken away and it’s an unknown. In most cases, the first few years produce a tough, single race-line around a course. This puts a premium on the pit crews, that’s for sure.
And the crew chiefs. Coming to a green track, pretty much anyone’s notes from previous races will be moot.
Pocono did not have a reconfigure while repavig. That’s good. Not sure what they would do to manage a reconfig, but if you remember, Phoenix also had a repave and a slight reconfiguration.
Other repaves on the horizon? Yep.
Michigan is getting a new surface between seasons and the parking lot known as Kansas will be looking at a repave between races in 2012.
That’s a lot of new notes for crew chiefs, that’s for sure!
