Post by elp525 on Feb 21, 2010 9:07:26 GMT -5
By DAVE SKRETTA
The Associated Press
February 19, 2010
Daytona International Speedway began repairs Thursday to the damaged portion of Turn 2 that forced two delays during the Daytona 500 totaling more than two hours.
Track president Robin Braig said a team of engineers and asphalt specialists from North American Testing Corp., decided a strip of pavement will be removed and a reinforced concrete patch will be poured in the area where a pothole developed during Sunday's race.
"This is the correct course of action to repair the track," Braig said.
The patch in the asphalt surface will be about 6 feet wide and 18 feet long, and should hold up until the 2 1/2 -mile, high-banked superspeedway undergoes a $20 million repaving scheduled for as early as 2012. The current surface was paved in 1978.
Engineers decided that heavy rain, including a flood last year, and cooler-than-normal temperatures weakened the track surface. The pavement ultimately couldn't hold up to the stress caused by tires and some cars, set low for better aerodynamics, that bottomed out.
"It never has happened in the history of the track and it does get inspected before these events," said Bill Braniff, senior director of construction for NATC, during a conference call. "There was no indication we had any problems in that area prior to these events."
The concrete patch will take about two days to pour with several days of cure time, but should be ready for Daytona 200 Week, a motorcycle event that begins Thursday.
There will also be a tire test for the new Nationwide Series car May 18-19 at Daytona, which should give track officials and pavement experts an indication of whether the patch will hold up. NASCAR returns to the track for its summer races the first week of July.
The Associated Press
February 19, 2010
Daytona International Speedway began repairs Thursday to the damaged portion of Turn 2 that forced two delays during the Daytona 500 totaling more than two hours.
Track president Robin Braig said a team of engineers and asphalt specialists from North American Testing Corp., decided a strip of pavement will be removed and a reinforced concrete patch will be poured in the area where a pothole developed during Sunday's race.
"This is the correct course of action to repair the track," Braig said.
The patch in the asphalt surface will be about 6 feet wide and 18 feet long, and should hold up until the 2 1/2 -mile, high-banked superspeedway undergoes a $20 million repaving scheduled for as early as 2012. The current surface was paved in 1978.
Engineers decided that heavy rain, including a flood last year, and cooler-than-normal temperatures weakened the track surface. The pavement ultimately couldn't hold up to the stress caused by tires and some cars, set low for better aerodynamics, that bottomed out.
"It never has happened in the history of the track and it does get inspected before these events," said Bill Braniff, senior director of construction for NATC, during a conference call. "There was no indication we had any problems in that area prior to these events."
The concrete patch will take about two days to pour with several days of cure time, but should be ready for Daytona 200 Week, a motorcycle event that begins Thursday.
There will also be a tire test for the new Nationwide Series car May 18-19 at Daytona, which should give track officials and pavement experts an indication of whether the patch will hold up. NASCAR returns to the track for its summer races the first week of July.
