Bristol Reconcreting close to done:

Construction crews are ahead of schedule in replacing the concrete racing surface at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kevin Triplett, Bristol’s vice president of public affairs, said earlier this week that resurfacing was “more than three-quarters done. We’re finishing pouring concrete on Turn 4 and putting in the retaining fence, and we still need to pour concrete on the front and back pit roads,” Triplett said. Workers cracked the track’s surface after the Nextel Cup’s Food City 500 in late March. The goal then was to complete renovations by mid-July, but the job could be finished a week sooner. NASCAR officials called Triplett recently and said they wanted firm test dates to get ready for the Sharpie 500 on Aug. 25. Triplett said that the first test will be July 23, with Truck series drivers. Busch drivers will try out the new track July 24, and Goodyear will test tires with selected Nextel Cup cars and drivers July 25. Baker Construction Services of Bluff City removed the old concrete racing surface, asphalt apron, pit roads and retaining walls and added about four miles of drainage tile beneath the new surface and infield.(Winston Salem Journal)(6-30-2007)