The repaving project—the first for the track since 1990—is scheduled to start following the Feb. 27 Cup race and is expected to be completed in early fall.
Phoenix International Raceway will be repaved and reconfigured in time for the Chase race held there in November. "It's going to be a new and improved version of PIR," PIR president Bryan Sperber said Wednesday in a phone interview. "But (it will) still have the uniqueness of it.
"We are thrilled with the design. … This race has always been pretty pivotal in crowning our Sprint Cup champion, and in this case, the notes from the previous races are not going to be worth much. It's going to be a whole new game."
Using computer modeling to determine the best racing grooves, PIR officials will make several adjustments to the configuration, including:
• Widening the frontstretch from 52 feet to 62 feet
• Pushing the dogleg curve between Turns 2 and 3 out 95 feet
• Tightening the turn radius of the dogleg from 800 to 500 feet
• Implementing variable banking, including 10- and 11-degree banking between Turns 1 and 2 as well as in the apex of the dogleg; and 8- and 9-degree banking in Turn 4
• Reconfiguring pit road with the installation of concrete pit stalls
The dogleg now will be more of a sweeping turn, and the changes should encourage more two-wide racing coming out of Turn 2 all the way through Turn 4.
"All of that cumulatively works to create a multi-groove racetrack from Day 1, which was an important objective," Sperber said.
NASCAR has told Nationwide and Cup teams to prepare for a test day the Thursday prior to the Nov. 13 race so they can get a feel for the new layout.