With NASCAR heading into Phoenix International Raceway this weekend, I’m taking all statistics with a grain of salt… no, make that an entire salt shaker.
Phoenix was repaved back in February of 2011 and with that repave, they took the opportunity to reconfigure the track a bit too. That mixes everything up these days. The repave included 23,000 tons of asphalt, 7,000 cubic yards of concrete and 600 pounds of rebar as the the 47-year-old facility underwent its first major paving project since 1990.
As we all know, repaving can speed things up, but sometimes, it can also make a single lane race groove. But I think the gang running Phoenix might have trumped the single groove issue because one of the new parts of the track is that the turns are now variable-banked corners.
Jeff Burton (No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet) was quoted to saying about the new track.
“The exit of Turn 2 is very unique; very different; the back straightaway has a lot of banking and it’s like falling into a hole; it’s pretty cool and it is neat to do something different here.”
Of the changes made, the front stretch is 10 feet wider, Turns 1 & 2 have 10 & 11 degree banking; turns 3 & 4 have 8 and 9 degree banking and the dog leg has been moved out by 95 feet and it too is variably banked, at 10 and 11 degrees.
David Ragan (No. 6 UPS Ford).
“There is a little bit more speed. Anytime you repave a race track you always have that 6-8 month period where the asphalt is wearing. It is curing and it is coming into its own. It gives us a hard time to figure it out, but the track will only get better with time. I think it is going to be a good race.”
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