Daytona International Speedway could look vastly different in two or three years.
Exactly how and when is still to be determined. And along those construction lines, comes the inevitable question of whether the track can spend a couple of years re-doing the entire frontstretch grandstands and façade without disrupting its traditional NASCAR race dates.
DIS President Joie Chitwood, who unveiled some preliminary drawings last week of the project but has not yet gotten approval to build from the board of parent company International Speedway Corp., said he thinks 2014 would be too soon for any construction impact on the schedule.
“At this point, even if we can get some things going, I don’t know if that’s really going to affect 2014,” Chitwood said Wednesday in a phone interview. “I don’t really see that as a concern. Maybe if we do get a property project approved, we have to look at the later years potentially.
“But right now, I don’t really see anything in ’14 that could cause a schedule change.”
In discussing future schedules last week, NASCAR Senior Vice President Steve O’Donnell said the Daytona construction schedule would have to be considered when developing a schedule.
“We have to take factors into play (when doing schedules),” O’Donnell said. “Look at Daytona, they have a big construction project. What does that mean for them in 2014, 2015?”
Chitwood wouldn’t rule out a change in Daytona race dates but without a proposed construction schedule, he couldn’t predict whether one would be necessary.
Rossetti Architects, which designed Ford Field in Detroit and the USTA Tennis Center in New York, has worked with DIS to begin creating plans.
“If we do get a project approved, that is something that we have to look at because whatever we do to the property is probably going to take a couple of seasons to get it all done,” Chitwood said.
“So there will be some challenges at how you coordinate running an event with any kind of improvements you’re making to the property. But that’s still such a far way away.”
Chitwood, who is looking to give the track grandstands more of a stadium feel, would like to keep the traditionally July Fourth weekend date for his second Cup race.
“Obviously we don’t want to really change anything,” Chitwood said. “We’ve got really good event weekends. They work for us. We love our July event – wrap ourselves with the American flag and celebrate the nation’s birthday.
“And who doesn’t love Daytona in February and starting off the season? But, look, if we get the opportunity to make some massive redevelopment in our property, we’ll have to see how that all shakes out. It’s way too early to see if that will change our schedule, and the goal would be not to have to do that.” (SportingNews)
