Phoenix Renovation

Looks like a quarter or 1/3rd mile short track configuration, seems like an odd change to a track that doesn't really need it though.
 
I can see a problem with the pit exit. Guys will be coming out of the pits, right where drivers start to cut across the dogleg. That and nobody will have a good view of turns 3 and 4, except the people on Tightwad Hill. They will have plenty of RV parking though.
 
Acs said:
I've only been to two tracks both with curved front stretches, so that's the obvious place to sit. Can you even seen turns 3&4 from all the way over in 1 and 2?
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At the top of 1-2 you an see 3-4 fairly well, but not picture clear.

The changes are so-so. I'll be happy if Phoenix is a finale race.
 
Lesa France Kennedy, chief executive officer of International Speedway Corp., which owns the track, stated before the season that Phoenix International Raceway and Richmond International Raceway were the next two tracks scheduled for improvements

Wonder what they will do to Richmond after they are done with Phoenix?
 
Nichodemus said:
Lesa France Kennedy, chief executive officer of International Speedway Corp., which owns the track, stated before the season that Phoenix International Raceway and Richmond International Raceway were the next two tracks scheduled for improvements

Wonder what they will do to Richmond after they are done with Phoenix?
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My guess? Stadium-style seating along the frontstretch and turn 1. Center the start/finish line in the D. Remove most of the seating in turn 3-4 and the backstretch for RV parking. Capacity reduced to ~55,000 ish.
 
MRM said:
Word is NASCAR wants Phoenix to host the final race of the season.
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There are a lot of funny rumors out there about future schedule changes. I predict they'll turn out to be the same as the last batch of rumors (finale at Daytona, Dover closing, Sonoma in the Chase, Darlington as the cutoff on a Monday night, Myrtle Beach XFINITY, etc...)

Simple Fan said:
I don't like that. If they are going to take it away from Homestead I'd rather they moved it to Las Vegas.
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If Las Vegas was an ISC track, it'd be the finale.
 
My favorite schedule rumor that's going around is the one where NASCAR's going to run three races on weeknights in 2018 and that's the reason they're installing lights at Martinsville.
 
MRM said:
Word is NASCAR wants Phoenix to host the final race of the season.
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Hopefully not! If Phoenix becomes the finale, that's one less Phoenix race a year I get to watch (unless the playoffs die).

AndyMarquisLive said:
My favorite schedule rumor that's going around is the one where NASCAR's going to run three races on weeknights in 2018 and that's the reason they're installing lights at Martinsville.
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NO, thank you. NASCAR is something I enjoy watching on weekends.
 
I always thought that Avondale had plenty of character prior to last reconfiguration.
I liked turn 4 better than the dog leg too. A very fast entry into a very hard turn headed into the front stretch.
 
I've got mixed feelings about these Phoenix track plans.

Restarts may be very interesting with the unique start/finish line configuration, but I'm worried racing on the dogleg apron may be banned since it will be near pit exit.

As for the grandstands, I'm thinking the reason they don't extend further is the sun. People past the dogleg would be facing the sun in the evening.
 
Revman said:
I agree 100%.
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It just seems so bass-ackwards that NASCAR doesn't move it's all-star race nor it's season finale, unlike every other sport which rotates one or both.
 
Nichodemus said:
Lesa France Kennedy, chief executive officer of International Speedway Corp., which owns the track, stated before the season that Phoenix International Raceway and Richmond International Raceway were the next two tracks scheduled for improvements

Wonder what they will do to Richmond after they are done with Phoenix?
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Nooooo :(

I love Richmond! Hopefully whatever they have planned truly is an improvement.
 
Acs said:
It just seems so bass-ackwards that NASCAR doesn't move it's all-star race nor it's season finale, unlike every other sport which rotates one or both.
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I'm with you on the All-Star race, although I don't like it much anyway. But the only sport I know that changes its finale is the NFL. Everyone else, at least in the US, the finale may change locations but that's as a reward to the teams involved. It's not decided by a rotation; you're not going to see Cubs vs. Indians played in Miami.
 
I can understand doing something with Richmond as the track needs a bunch of seats removed as it used to have 110,000 then dropped to 91K and now sits 71K and they could afford to chop another 25K and still likely not sell out. Phoenix dropped from 77K seats down to 51K and with it providing good racing choosing another track to "enhance the fan experience" would seem like a better idea. I will need to see a race or 2 before deciding if changing the track was a good idea or not but Nascar does not have the greatest of histories when it changes tracks.

Favorite euphemisms:

Sanitation Engineer = Garbage man

Sex trade worker = Hooker

Undocumented worker = Some wanker/wankette in my country illegally

Enhance the fan experience = Removing seats at Nascar tracks that used to be occupied but now sit unused and never will be used again.
 
^ Has never been to the racetrack in Avondale.
 
It looks like they are re-arranging the furniture - at least the track remains the same. I think the start/finish line get the dog leg in play, there would be no blocking there and give drivers optional lanes to the finish.
 
Dang. I knew the changes were coming but not like this. No seats on either straight? WTF? PIR was one of the few that still had sellouts and they reduce the capacity????? I will say it could give 4-5-wide finishes though.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I'm with you on the All-Star race, although I don't like it much anyway. But the only sport I know that changes its finale is the NFL. Everyone else, at least in the US, the finale may change locations but that's as a reward to the teams involved. It's not decided by a rotation; you're not going to see Cubs vs. Indians played in Miami.
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Yes, my thoughts as well. All major sports that aren't the NFL and I guess college basketball tournaments play championship games at the participants' home facilities. Which I hope would prove again how silly this fixation of comparing NASCAR to "other sports" is, as opposed to say other forms of motorsports. I've never witnessed fans of any other sport so desirous of becoming more like a different sport.
 
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Looks like the plans were approved.....

https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/01/30/Facilities/PIR.aspx
https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/01/30/Facilities/PIR.aspx
Another view of the new layout

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I'm definitely gonna guess that the way they use the dogleg now will not be possible with this layout.


I like the grandstand idea. No one will be in the sun all day by the looks of it.
 
More pics:



I'm also going to assume they will put some grass in existing turns 1 and 2? That's a lot of blank space there with the now-pointless retaining walls.


Selling theirselves short with 45k seats though.
 
DUN24 said:
More pics:



I'm also going to assume they will put some grass in existing turns 1 and 2? That's a lot of blank space there with the now-pointless retaining walls.


Selling theirselves short with 45k seats though.
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Take the walls out and let's see if anyone uses it the way they shortcut the dogleg. :D It's not like the turns are banked much anyway.

I wonder where the spotters will be? At the end of the grandstand extension?

I figured if any track needed to ADD seats, not take them away, it was this one.

Seriously, expect more spotter traffic on restarts to let drivers know if there's anyone coming out of the pits. If there isn't, I expect the shortcut will still see some use. Unless some idiot decides there should be a double-yellow line down there...
 
I find it odd that the only seats are in turns 1 and 2. That makes 3 and 4 that much less visible. Is the hill still an option or do they charge for that as well?
 
Wrangler1 said:
I find it odd that the only seats are in turns 1 and 2. That makes 3 and 4 that much less visible. Is the hill still an option or do they charge for that as well?
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Remember, the grandstand seats are going to become 3 and 4, and 1 and 2 will now be down by Rattlesnake Hill.
 
The grandstand setup seems really awkward. It's kind of like Atlanta's but even "weirder". Hopefully there will eventually be a need for more than 45k seats and PIR will add additional ones will be down one of the straights.

I don't understand why there was a need to make a change. I thought the current configuration had a perfectly fine personality.
 
NASCAR and Sears department store seems to be in a race to reduce capacity.I am glad I work for neither management team.For anyone that didn't check out the Daytona Rolex 24,you missed a great race.My wife even sat down with my son and me and watched the last hour.
 
Just an awkward layout looking at the renderings of the track. But what do I know, I'm not in the track design business
 
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