Despite Reports, Miami Will Reconfigure
As part of a major track reconfiguration project, Homestead-Miami Speedway will increase its track banking to a maximum of 20 degrees in the turns through an innovative variable-degree banking system, announced Speedway President Curtis Gray. Construction on the project, estimated to cost in excess of $10 million, began Wednesday with a ceremonial demolition of Homestead-Miami Speedway's Turn Four. The project is scheduled to be complete in time for the 2003 Ford Championship Weekend, the season-finales for the NASCAR Winston Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series, set for November 13-16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The reconfiguration project with the added banking comes after feedback from race fans, along with drivers,
asking for more exciting racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Reconfiguring the track and increasing the banking at Homestead-Miami Speedway is easier said than done. Below are some facts relevant to this major construction project at the Speedway:
· Amount of landfill needed: 4,050,000 cubic feet of landfill..That's
enough dirt to cover an eight-story building as large as a football field.
· Weight of landfill: 390,000,000 pounds..That's the equivalent of 112,000
NASCAR Winston Cup cars piled together or 2,437,500 160-pound men.
· Miles driven to transport the landfill: Approximately 50,000
miles..That's the equivalent of driving 19 times from South Beach to New
York City and back, or completing the "Daytona 500" 100 times.
· Truckloads of landfill: 10,000 truckloads..If you were to line up 10,000
dump trucks bumper-to-bumper, they would extend more than 30 miles. That's
longer than the distance from Miami to Fort Lauderdale along I-95.
· Amount of fencing: 22 strands of fencing around the 1.5 mile oval..That's
the equivalent of 33 miles of fencing, enough fencing to stretch from
Homestead-Miami Speedway to South Beach.
· Hours worked: On-site construction will go on for roughly 18 hours a day,
seven days a week.
(H-M Speedway)(5-22-03)
