Here’s how NASCAR is building a million-dollar disposable track in the L.A. Coliseum

January 8, 2022:

NASCAR racing at L.A. Coliseum in 2022

The NASCAR season-opening Clash race will be held on a temporary track built in the L.A. Coliseum in 2022. The exhibition race features around 20 of the top drivers.

How hard is it to build a temporary NASCAR track in a football stadium? About the same as a building a permanent one.

Construction of a quarter-mile track inside the L.A. Memorial Coliseum is underway.
(NASCAR)

New Valley Construction of Phoenix, Ariz., is in the process of paving over the entire field inside the L.A. Memorial Coliseum for February’s NASCAR Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum season-opening exhibition race.

The quarter-mile track will be used for just one weekend, then torn up to return the facility to its original condition.

The track was designed with help from iRacing.
(NASCAR)

Steve Boscardin, the New Valley executive in charge of the project, told Fox News Autos that it’s following nearly the same procedure it would if it were laying a long-term surface. The big difference, is that it put protective layers of plastic and plywood over the field before laying a six-inch base of dirt on top.

It took 500 truckloads to do that, which Boscardin said was tricky due to the narrow tunnel available to drive through. Another 70 semis had to deliver 1,560 tons of a special blend of high performance asphalt that requires special equipment to pave.

Boscardin said it will be four inches thick, rather than the five inches they’d use for a permanent installation. The company previously worked with NASCAR on projects at Homestead-Miami and Phoenix Raceway.

The track will only have two weeks to set and cure before the February 6 weekend race, which is about half the normal time, but he doesn’t expect any issues.

500 truckloads of dirt were required to cover the field.
(Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Temporary barriers, like those used on a street circuit, will be installed to define the oval, which was designed with help from simulations conducted on the iRacing platform. A pit lane won’t be required as the Clash will consist of several short heat races and a non-stop main.

As soon as it’s done, the crew will start tearing up the surface and trucking away the asphalt and dirt, which will all be reused for other projects.

The exact price hasn’t been revealed, NASCAR’s Vice President of Marketing Services Patrick Rogers told The Sports Business Journal it was just over $1 million, which is roughly what it costs to pave a mile of road.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

NASCAR hasn’t yet confirmed if it’ll be coming back again in 2023, but Boscardin will be ready if it does and is looking forward to this year’s event.

“I think it’s going to be a blast.”

Source link

tags

Abkhazia Afghanistan Africa Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curacao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guam Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Northern Cyprus Norway Oman Pakistan Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Lucia Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda UK Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay USA Uzbekistan Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe