Where pavement is concerned, Chitwood guarantees problem-free Daytona 500

Where pavement is concerned, Chitwood guarantees problem-free Daytona 500

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Service

Recently installed Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood gave his assurance that pavement problems are a thing of the past at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
A repaving project with an estimated cost of $20 million has been under way at Daytona since early July. According to Chitwood, the frontstretch and backstretch are close to completion, with the banked turns to follow.
The appearance of a large pothole between Turns 1 and 2 during the Daytona 500 in February—with resulting delays totaling more than two hours—hastened the repaving of the speedway, which hadn’t benefited from new asphalt since 1978.
“I hate to use the word ‘guarantee,’ but I think I’m willing to say I guarantee there’s going to be no potholes,” Chitwood said Saturday at Richmond International Raceway. “This process we’ve gone through has been pretty substantial.
“When you think about repaving Daytona International Speedway—and the fact that it was paved for the first time in ’58, and in ’78 they came back in and only put a couple layers on top; nothing was ever done to the base.”
Chitwood said the speedway is basically starting over with the track, including recreating the base.
“We are using the latest as it relates to asphalt, in terms of putting it down there,” he said. “There are no restrictions on making sure we get this job done just right.”
Chitwood said favorable weather this summer has the project on target for completion either on or before Jan. 1, 2011. The speedway, NASCAR and Goodyear are discussing the details of a possible tire test on the new pavement in January.

Terry Labonte rides again
Thanks to an 11th-hour deal with Prism Motorsports, Terry Labonte was back in the field for Saturday night’s Air Guard 400 at Richmond.
During Friday’s qualifying session, Labonte was bumped from the field when his brother, Bobby Labonte, was forced to use a past champion’s provisional to make the race. Terry is a two-time Sprint Cup champion (1984 and 1996), but as a more recent past champ (2000), Bobby got the nod over his brother.
Stavola Labonte Racing, however, made a deal with Prism Motorsports, and Terry Labonte replaced Mike Bliss in the No. 55 Toyota, a start-and-park entry. Labonte’s crew spent the hours leading up to Saturday’s race re-decaling the No. 55 with the colors of Gander Mountain, Labonte’s sponsor.
What they couldn’t do was transform the car make. Labonte initially tried to qualify for the race in a Chevrolet.

Bowyer “shunned” before race
Just as baseball players prefer to keep their distance from a pitcher with a no-hitter working, Kevin Harvick wanted nothing to do with Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer before Saturday night’s race.
With a 117-point lead over Ryan Newman, Bowyer needed a finish of 28th or better to secure a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Harvick admitted to being more nervous about the situation than Bowyer has been.
“Well, I think they’re in a really good spot—I just don’t like being around them because of being on the same team and everything that’s at stake,” Harvick said with a laugh. “I just don’t even want to be near him.”