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 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, 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.
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.”
Gary Gastelu is Fox News Digital’s automotive editor.
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