Photo – Courtesy Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is going to look different in the future. Joie Chitwood, track president of Daytona, announced new changes coming to the speedway pending approval from senior management of the International Speedway Corporation (ISC).
The new proposed changes to the famous “World Center of Racing” include changes to the front stretch, concession stands, the entrance to the speedway and more. Chitwood presented media members and NASCAR industry leaders a three-dimensional video of the new changes Friday.
The goal of the changes is to improve “the complete fan experience.” The changes start with five new, expanded and redesigned entrances called “injectors”.
All entrances lead to escalators that will bring people to a three-story concourse. Each escalator will drop off fans at different levels. There will be over 40 escalators included in the new entrances. The concourse will include 11 different “neighborhoods.” Each neighborhood will be the size of a football field with an “open-sightline” so fans can socialize and not miss any of the on-track action during the races.
Seats on the front stretch will also be improved. The first row of seats will be raised with the goal of providing a better sight line for fans. Along with those changes, every seat will be replaced and improved to provide more comfortable seating for fans.
Daytona International Speedway will also add and update restrooms and concession stands to better accommodate fans.
The speedway hopes that if they spends $250 million, legislation will allow the track to receive incentives that other Florida sports teams get for their facilities.
A timetable on how long the renovation would be completed has not been released and the new plans are still pending approval.
Potential benefits of the renovation as said by Chitwood, “Who knows, maybe a BCS National Championship game is in our future.” Daytona International Speedway is looking to make things bigger and better, these proposed plans accomplish that.
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