Jeff Burton is accustomed to driving down pit road at Daytona International Speedway in his #31 Caterpillar Chevy looking for his Richard Childress Racing pit crew for four tires and Sunoco fuel. On Wednesday, he got a different perspective of pit road from a Caterpillar grader. Burton visited the “World Center of Racing” and graded a portion of pit road, which along with the entire 2.5-mile tri-oval, apron and skid pad, is being repaved for only the second time in track history. “It’s not hard to just move dirt, but it’s hard to put it where it’s supposed to be,” Burton said of his grading experience. Burton, along with President Joie Chitwood III, also buried a time capsule and delivered a progress report to the local media on the Daytona Repave project, which began immediately after the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola on Monday, July 5.
Among the items placed in the time capsule were:
ÃÂ÷ Tickets from 2010 Daytona International Speedway events including the 52nd annual Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola, the final race on the old asphalt
ÃÂ÷ Die-cast cars including Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s #3 Wrangler Chevy that won the Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered By Coca-Cola NASCAR Nationwide Series race and Burton’s #31 Caterpillar Chevy
ÃÂ÷ Newspapers from the Daytona Beach News-Journal including their special Daytona Repave section
ÃÂ÷ Business card of Lane Construction’s John Rauer, the project manager on the Daytona Repave
ÃÂ÷ Sprint Blackberry phone
ÃÂ÷ Press releases, brochures and photos
Burton, whose lone Daytona NASCAR Sprint Cup win came in July 2000, took a tour of the facility before burying the time capsule and grading pit road. “It’s really cool to be here,” said Burton, who added he would like to come back to Daytona someday to dig up the time capsule. “The history of this race track and the France family actually building this track with their own hands and (now) seeing it reconstructed, it’s pretty cool. This track is going to make racing incredible. What you’re going to see is three wide and two wide all the time. The technology in the asphalt and the technology in the grading makes the track so smooth and makes so much grip that you’re not going to be afraid to put it three wide. You’re going to be able to put that car where ever you want to put it.” Speedweeks 2011 will kick off with the 49th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series race on Jan. 29-30 and conclude with the 53rd annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 20, the prestigious season-opening event to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Race fans can view the progression of the historic repaving project from a section of the Oldfield Grandstands, which will open free to the public. Track tours will also be available through attraction admission to Daytona 500 Experience. Daytona International Speedway also is posting updates on the project at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/repave. For fans interested in purchasing pieces of asphalt, they can visit www.jostens.com/Daytona. For tickets and more information on Daytona International Speedway events, visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or call 1-800-PITSHOP.(DIS)(9-12-2010)
