The Daytona 500 is the crown jewel of NASCAR and after a number of years without major upgrades, a plan is being put in motion to put a big face-lift at the Daytona International Speedway.
According to ESPN.com, Track president Joie Chitwood gave an outlined presentation on Friday for a new state-of-the-art front grandstand at the racetrack that would have at least $250 million put in from the DIS in addition to money from the state government. The report said that if the state legislature agrees to give certain tax breaks that other sports receive, the funds would be up to or over that amount.
Chitwood added that public-private partnership legislation will be proposed next week and will ask for certain tax breaks that have been extended to NFL, MLB and other major sports in the state.
The construction would start "as soon as possible'," said Chitwood, and that an independent study showed that the raceway provides nearly $2 billion in yearly economic impact to the state.
"From my perspective, and looking at the 50 years of what we've done in this community and the state of Florida, I hope when legislature looks at this they say, 'This makes a lot of sense,''' Chitwood said.
There is no timetable yet for the project since scheduling will have to be done around the Daytona 500 in February and the July Sprint Cup race, but that details are being worked on.
The construction plan would have a a brand-new grandstand area, with a new entrance as well as escalators and football-field-length "neighborhoods'' with large screens, restaurants and bars.
"Who knows, maybe there's a BCS Championship Game on our horizon,'' he said, referring to college football's title game.
