Phoenix International Raceway and parent company International Speedway Corporation are seriously considering reconfiguring the famous dogleg mile when the track is repaved after its February 2011 NASCAR race weekend.
This would be a mistake. Phoenix International Raceway is a one-of-a-kind mile oval that, in its heyday, was a revered, challenging, perfect tune-up-for-Indy staple on the champ car schedule. It's quirky D-shaped design with a dogleg on the backstretch features completely different turns at either end of the track. Turns one and two are tighter than three and four and coming off the front straight the banking is 11 degrees; the banking off the backstretch is only nine degrees. Then there's that dogleg. The straightaway out of turn two is really a short chute to a bend before another short straight that leads to turn three; i.e. there is no back straight. Opened in 1964, PIR quickly developed a reputation as a driver's track with one end closely resembling one of the turns at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the next venue on the USAC schedule. A.J. Foyt, Al and Bobby Unser and Buddy Lazier all won the 500 right after winning at Phoenix For many years the track hosted two IndyCar races per season, one in the spring and the other in the fall. It hosted USAC stock car races, then the NASCAR Winston West series started coming and finally the truck, Cup and Busch (now Nationwide) Series came to Phoenix.
PIR also hosted a lovely little event called the Copper World Classic in late January, a two-day, open to almost anyone speedfest that hosted midgets, sprints, Silver Crown, supermodifieds, Featherlite Southwest Series and/or NASCAR West Series races in some combination. The racers who competed in the Copper World considered it their own Indy 500. It was a legendary event at a driver's track where a win was possible from any spot in any field if you had the right setup and wheelman. You'd be hard pressed to find a driver who didn't, doesn't or wouldn't like racing at Phoenix International Raceway. And now they're talking about 'reconfiguring' this storied desert mile. The word sacrilege comes to mind. Granted we have no idea what ISC and the track have planned when we read reports about proposed track changes. Progressive banking is what's been mentioned, along with a new racing surface. We can't blame shareholders for wanting to improve the product while maintaining and increasing the value of their asset; no matter how much drivers like the slick, weathered, bumpy here 'n there surface the asphalt has to be kept up -- which means occasionally re-surfacing. But maintenance is one thing. Risky, elective, potentially-Jennifer-Grey-disastrous cosmetic surgery is another. All the other progressively-banked tracks were designed as such, with uniform turns and nil personality. When racers and fans refer to them as cookie cutter tracks they aren't being complimentary. PIR remains one of the very few oval tracks that are historic, unique and popular among everyone because both the track and the racing are different from any other. When ISC bought PIR in 1997 they considered a major investment (on top of the $40+ million purchase price) to flop the start/finish line to the backstretch, just past the dogleg with new grandstands and suites facing north. The project was shelved due to cost but no one was ever talking about changing the actual track. If it ain't broke why fix it? It's bad enough IndyCar left after the 2005 race and the Copper World Classic just faded away. It's worse that ISC and the IZOD IndyCar Series have pretty much divorced each other although both say they still want to be friends, maybe even friends with benefits in the coming years if both parties are getting what they want out of the relationship. But regardless of what kind of car is going to be sliding around the famous Phoenix mile in the future the track should remain the same. The same as it was for IndyCar winners like A.J Foyt., Mario and Michael Andretti, Gordon Johncock, Al and Bobby Unser, Rick Mears and Tom Sneva. The same as it was for NASCAR winners like Alan Kulwicki, Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, Davey Allison and Rusty Wallace. The same as it was for Copper World Classic winners like Chuck Gurney, Stan Fox, Ken Schrader, Billy Vukovich III, Davey Hamilton, Rich Vogler, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. If ISC has the funding to reconfigure a track they need look no further than Talladega and Daytona, where the banking is a genuine problem, unless increased danger to fans and drivers alike, with crashes and carnage and mainstream media highlights you can count on for every race is exactly what they want -- safety, integrity of the sport and common sense be damned. And they should just re-pave Phoenix International Raceway and leave the configuration and banking alone.
-Bill
Read more of Bill Tybur's thoughts on fantasy racing at FMFL
Photo Credits: Josef Rinderer, James Casta�eda
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