Many of the tracks that NASCAR journeys to have two races scheduled per season, and these ovals often have road courses built into them to service motorcycle and sport car races. So I used gmap-pedometer, the site linked here, to start building my own NASCAR road courses.
I figure that any track visited twice by NASCAR during a season should run the "oval" track one race, and then the "road course" on the other race. Of course, some of the rules would have to change in order for this to work.
Rule Changes:
1. Every car must qualify. Right now there are several factors that guarantee cars a spot in a race. Basically, as it is now, only 10 "outsiders" have a chance of making a NASCAR race. By forcing all cars to qualify, you ensure the most competitive field, at least in theory.
2. For road courses, only 33 cars qualify, not 43. This is because some tracks, in order to access the road course, require a short-cutting of the pit lane. And since every car is qualifying, you still maintain the competitive field with the possible Cinderella story.
3. Bring grooved tyres, because it might rain. Formula 1 runs in the rain. Football plays in the rain. I'm pretty sure that NASCAR would rather be equated with Football and the pinnacle motorsport series rather than baseball, which takes a break if it gets cloudy.
4. Points restructuring. Only the top 10 get points, and you only get points for where you finish. No more points for leading the most laps. No points for leading at the halfway. No one cares who is leading on lap 399 of a 400 lap race, they care about the leader on lap 400.
5. Standing starts on the road courses. Most of these start-finish lines are on the wider portions of the track, so staggering the cars three-wide would provide excellent standing starts.
So those are the rules. Let's examine the tracks.
New "Road Course" Tracks
Atlanta:
Following the link will take you to a special Right Wing designed 2.4-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway road course. The start-finish line remains the same, and obviously some parts of the oval are still used. The big change starts at the end of the pitlane. Drivers make a sweeping left-hander into a short straight. This straight leads to a kind of hairpin onto another straight. At the end of this straight is a right-left-right "Esses" that remind me of the Turn 1-2-3 complex at Catalunya. Beyond this complex is a tight left-hairpin that puts the cars back on the oval. The only other change is at the entrance to turn three of the oval, where there is a quick chicane.
Texas:
The Texas Motor Speedway is another prime candidate for a 2.08-mile road course. Again, start-finish line stays the same. In fact, the drivers run the oval all the way to the back stretch. Here, coming out of turn 2 there is a left-hand hairpin that rather quickly turns back to the right. After running through an elongated left-right chicane, the drivers encounter the inner straight, which leads to a right hand turn of more than 90-degrees. Perfect for overtaking. Beyond this sharp turn is a gradual right-hander leading to a another left-hand-hairpin. The next gradual turn leads into yet another left-hairpin, which almost immediately turns into a right-hand-hairpin. A long left hand turn later and the drivers are back on the oval, heading back to start-finish.
Pocono:
The triangular Pocono racetrack is a fun, fast place for NASCAR. Our road course idea will slow the cars down considerably, but will require greater skill to navigate. Our plan for Pocono changes the track layout from what amounts to 3 turns, into a 19-turn behemoth measuring 3.1 miles. Coming off the start-finish, the drivers attack a nasty 90-degree-plus left hander, that "esses" through turns 2, 3, and 4. Turn 5 is a sharp, shallow hairpin leading to turn 6. Turn 7 is a quick lefty bringing the drivers to a sharp turn 8, taking them back into the depths of the infield. Turns 9 through 11 can be taken fairly quickly, but turn 12 is a left-hand-hairpin that will probably catch some drivers out. Shuttling through turn 13 leads the drivers back to the oval, but this is short-lived. Turns 15 through 19 go left-right-left-right-left, bringing the cars back to the start-finish line.
Fontana, CA:
The track at Fontana can produce some fast oval races, but our road course adds a new level of skill. The 17-turn, 3.1945 mile track uses a vast portion of the original oval. Turn 1 is a sharp left hander, almost bus-stop chicane like in appearance. This near-chicane gives way to a sweeping left hand turn going to the first near-hairpin. After doubling back, the drivers double back once more, going through turns 4 and 5, and finding themselves on a straight. Not too much speed, though, as a chicane does await at turn 6 and 7. After this chicane there is a very shallow right hander leading to an "esses" area, leading to the 90-degree turn 10. Turn 11 is another 90-degree right-hander, leading to a hairpin turn 12, similar to turn 12 at Pocono. After a sweeping right-hander the cars encounter a wide hairpin turn putting them back on the oval. There is a quick chicane a la Atlanta before once more reaching the start-finish.
Charlotte:
Lowe's Motor Speedway at Charlotte is a good track as an oval, but I think out 2.24-mile road course could be even better. Actually, this track is really hard to "road course." It also uses much of the old oval The new road course does not take over until nearly halfway down the back straight, where there is a tight left-hand-hairpin that leads to a pseudo-chicane. After this turn complex there is a sweeping right-hander that leads to another right-left complex. After a short straight there is a left-hander that almost doubles back. There is a quick "ess" complex leading to another hairpin. There is a final left-hand-tight-hairpin that puts the drivers back on the oval and leading to the start-finish.
Miami:
The 2.1913-mile, 12-turn road course at Miami is probably the most "unique" of all the road courses discussed here. It uses none of the original turns in the oval, utilizing on the front and back straights. From the start-finish line the drivers approach a shallow left hander, that keeps going through a triangular turn 2 and into a doubling-back turn 3. From here, the drivers go through a slow right-hander leading to the first of two interior straights. Turn 5 is a 90-plus degree turn leading to a sweeping turn 6 onto the second interior straight. At the end of this straight is a hairpin turn 7, into another sweeping turn 8, leading to the back straight. Before the entrance to the oval's Turn 3, the drivers break left into a very fast section with a shallow angle turn 10. There is a quick right-left, turns 11 and 12, leading back to the start-finish.
Phoenix:
The track at Phoenix is a gruelingly hot 11-turns jammed into a 1.506-mile road course. From the start-finish, the drivers take a shallow turn into turn 1, which quickly sweeps into turn 2, turn 3, and turn 4, and pronounced "esses" section leading to a very short straight. Turn 5 is a quick, shallow left-hander leading to a C-curve turn 6 and 7. After a fast turn 8 the cars encounter the hairpin that returns them to the original oval. A quick blast through turns 10 and 11 (turns 3 and 4 on the original oval) leads back to the start-finish.
Daytona:
The last track on our tour is Daytona. The famous track already has a road course that is used for the 24-hours of Daytona endurance race, but our design modifies that road course into a 3.0029-mile, 14 turn affair. From the start-finish line, the drivers enter turn 1, which is a sweeping left-hander. Turn 2 is an S-curve leading to the hairpin turn 3. Turn 4 is a quick right hander leading to a C-curve comprised of turns 5 and 6. Turns 7 and 8 are a very pronounced, abbreviated S-curve, leading to the back straight. About three-quarters of the way to turn 3 there is a double-chicane leading back to the last part of the oval. The cars will use the original turn 4 leading to the tri-oval and the start-finish.
That concludes our tour of the new "road courses." If you have any ideas for changing NASCAR, we'd love to hear them.
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