Hello Nascar fans. Well here we are in the final week of the season. I truly feel sad and sort of confused as to what I will do with myself for three months every Sunday afternoon!! I’m sure I will find something but I always hate to see the season end. I wish they could race all year around. That would be awesome, but they work hard driving the rest of the time, so I guess they deserve a holiday vacation too.
Well Homestead-Miami Speedway is here in Florida. I have never been to the track but it is definitely on the list of places to go and things to do. It was in September of 1992 after the trail of destruction left behind by hurricane Andrew, that the longtime Miami sports promoter, Ralph Sanchez, came to city leaders with an idea to revitalize the now devastated landscape of the city.
Groundbreaking on the construction of the new 434 acre complex began in April 1993. Construction on the Homestead-Miami Speedway was completed in 1995 and on November 3, 1995 the Nascar race debuted before a sold out crowd at the brand new track.
In 1999 the track expanded its seating capacity to nearly double and built a massive expansion near turn 1 as dictated by new track president, Curtis Gray. The crown jewel of Nascar, the Winston Cup series, premiered at Homestead on November 14, 1999 with Tony Stewart bringing it home to victory lane.
In November of 2002, Homestead-Miami was given the priviledge of hosting the Ford Championship Weekend where each series end its season and crowns it’s winner on the same weekend, Truck Series, Nationwide Series, it was the Busch Series back then, and of course the Winston Cup which is now the Sprint Cup Series.
In May of 2003 the track underwent the most expensive, extensive and technologically advanced track reconfiguraton in the history of motorsports. Transforming the track from a 6 degree flat banking to a computer designed 18 to 20 degree variable banking system in the turns. That’s quite a transformation. In November of 2005 another expansion took place constructing a new turn 1 tower that houses premium level seating and private suites. That same year they hosted the final season events under the lights at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Homestead-Miami now sits on 600 acres and boasts a seating capacity of over 65,000 in the grandstands alone. The track is a 1.5 mile oval and there is also a 2.1 mile road course track there as well. The front and back stretch both measure the same length at 1760 feet. As I noted previously, the degree of banking in the turns is the variable 18 to 20 while the straightaways have 3 degree banking. The track measures 55 feet wide. A new 18,000 square foot media center was to be completed in September 2008 so that should be up and running for the big event this weekend hopefully. Here is a fun fact for you about the track, the water tower holds 1 million gallons of water, which is enough water to fill over 20,000 bathtubs! Thats a lot of baths!! Here is a heavy load for you as well, the speedways landscaping weighs an incredible 10 billion pounds! Wow! That’s impressive. The lighting requires 2.4 million watts or enough power to light over 17,143 residential streets in south Florida. That’s a lot of electrical power!!
Well this is it. Sunday is the last race for the chase. I’m pretty sure unless Carl Edwards has some magical fairies or something, that Johnson pretty much has this sewn up. I know, I was hoping for some sort of oh, I dont know, maybe a miracle cause that’s pretty much what every other driver needs to beat Jimmy. But as much as I really dont like him, I have to admit he is consistent and he runs well and is up there every week racing and rubbing trying to get himself up there and he does a good job of that. So anyways, now it’s on to Sunday and the big celebration for Jimmy. Well, I’m running late, gotta get to work this morning. So have yourself a great rest of the week and I’ll see you back here on Sunday. Next week, I will be writing about any and all changes that will be occuring over the break until February. There should be some interesting things coming our way so stay tuned. Until then race fans.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow that is a lot of dirt and a lot of electric.
you arent kidding. hahaha that is really a lot. i thought that was kind of interesting!! imagine the electric bill if you had to pay to power 17000 residential streets?! haha i cant even imagine what their bill is. im sure more than mine for a lifetime in one year at the track! pretty impressive.
Lorri Did you get a chance to watch the Craftsman truck series race last night. The race was pretty boring crash wise but the championship came down to a truck length. It was by far the most exciting finish to a season that Nascar trucks has ever had.
I was on twitter and met a lot of cool folks following the race. It was really on the edge of your seat racing. You had to see it to believe it.
Glad I got to meet some new Nascar fans on twitter. If you are on twitter and want to follow me my url is http://www.twitter.com/awesomewreckage
no i had to work last night til midnight. so i didnt watch the race at all. i will have to start trying to watch it more. bryan always liked it, but i prefer nationwide and sprint cup racing. although i wouldnt be opposed to going to one. i cant wait for the race tomorrow night.