Daytona International Speedway Is Making This Big Change For The Daytona 500
Daytona International Speedway is cutting the grass.
The NASCAR-owned track is in the process of removing the grass sections from the Le Mans/Bus Stop chicane on the back stretch.
It is used as part of the road course for the Rolex 24, but its design contributed to a major wreck during last year’s Coke Zero 400.
Ryan Preece lost control and entered the chicane sideways. His car ran over the curb at the entrance to the chicane, went airborne and rolled nearly a dozen times into the grass section.
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NASCAR said that it analyzed the incident and determined that the curb was a major contributing factor, while the grass and dirt made the roll worse as it grabbed onto the car, Sportsnaut reported.
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The solution NASCAR is applying is paving over the grass sections and putting in curbs that can be removed for races on the oval.
The outside section of the entrance was paved over prior to the Rolex 24 while the curbs will be removed and the inside section converted to asphalt prior to the Daytona 500. After that, the larger grass area where Preece’s car finally came to a rest will be paved in time for this year’s Coca-Cola 400.
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Daytona is not making any changes to its iconic tri-oval grass section in front of the grandstands and has revealed the design that was chosen for the Daytona 500 through a fan vote.
The Daytona 500 is scheduled for Sunday February 18, but the NASCAR season will kick off with the exhibition Clash and the Coliseum on a temporary paved track built inside of the L.A. Coliseum on February 4.
Along with the Clash and a NASCAR Mexico Series race, NASCAR is expected to demonstrate its first electric car.
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The vehicle is built on the Cup Series platform, but wears an SUV-style body. Technical details have not yet been revealed, but NASCAR said it was able to turn laps at Martinsville Speedway within a few tenths of the V8-powered Cup Series cars.
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NASCAR has no intention of replacing any of its top three series with an all-electric vehicle an hasn’t yet confirmed any plans to use it for racing. As of now, it is just a technology demonstrator.
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