The Evolution of the Racing Surface

Over the past 5 years, over six major new racing venues and nearly one dozen existing courses have been constructed or re-paved with asphalt, respectively. Major racing surface failures and successes have evidenced themselves throughout the entire process, thus enabling the industry to take modest strides to greater understand the ingredients necessary in creating exciting, safe, and durable racing surfaces. Failure modes stemming from track geometry to ambient temperatures have played a role and have required re-evaluation of the paving process. A close look at surface specification development, detailed quality control and quality assurance and ongoing maintenance will bolster track surface performance