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This ROCKs!

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Post by Nextelracer Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:51 am

An oldie just might be back in NASCAR...


The Rockingham Speedway, which hosted NASCAR Sprint Cup races from 1965 to 2004, is taking a huge step toward once again hosting big-league racing as SAFER "soft wall" barriers will be installed next month.

The energy-absorbing system will be installed in two phases, in mid-September and late December, covering all four turns of the one-mile oval and the inside of the backstretch wall.

The most common estimate of the SAFER barrier cost is $1 million per mile. "Yes, that's expensive," said Robert Ingraham, the track's general manager, "but nothing's more expensive than having someone hurt."

NASCAR requires racetracks to have the SAFER barrier in place before they can host one of the sanctioning body's top three national series -- Sprint Cup, Nationwide, or Camping World Trucks. Rockingham, then known as North Carolina Motor Speedway, hosted 78 Sprint Cup events and 42 Nationwide Series races, but it hasn't held a NASCAR event since Matt Kenseth's victory in the Subway 400 on Feb. 22, 2004.

The track and the 244 acres it sits on were dormant for nearly four years before it was purchased by veteran racer Andy Hillenburg at auction on Sept. 27, 2007.

Hillenburg has kept the complex open thanks to a patchwork of racing from smaller non-NASCAR divisions such as ARCA and UARA, but has struggled to attract crowds.

The facility received a boost in 2009 with NASCAR's current "testing ban" rules. NASCAR teams can be found participating in near-weekly test sessions on both the big oval and the half-mile "Little Rock" test track, a near-clone of the Martinsville Speedway.

Rockingham officials have had discussions with NASCAR, albeit informal, about the possibility of a Nationwide or Truck Series event returning to the track more commonly known as The Rock. A source within NASCAR, speaking on condition of anonymity, admits as much.

However, the lack of a SAFER barrier had always been an insurmountable issue. Without the promise of a NASCAR race, Hillenburg wasn't confident enough to try and secure funds for SAFER installation. That now appears to have changed.

Just last month, Nashville Superspeedway announced it was closing, essentially orphaning four NASCAR events, two each in Nationwide and Trucks. Since that announcement, speculation has run rampant as to where those races might end up in 2012. Next season's NASCAR schedules have not yet been finalized.

Ingraham is quick to say that these new SAFER plans are "all about driver safety."

But he added, "If it looks like we are being proactive about attracting a larger event, that's not an accident."

NASCAR president Mike Helton told ESPN.com's David Newton that while he "wouldn't want to give anybody false hope," the installation of SAFER barriers "gives us more options."

"A lot of it might have to do with the fact that a lot of teams test there. So I wouldn't read too much between the lines. But with SAFER barriers in place that's an obstacle that would be cleared," said Helton, who didn't rule out that the Nationwide Series schedule could have fewer races next season.

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/story/_/id/6867150/rockingham-speedway-installing-safer-walls-month


Nothing is confirmed yet, but with dates being left open for trucks and Nationwide, there just might be some room left open for the Rock. That, in my opinion, would totally rock. Pun totally intended. This ROCKs! 4276145973
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Post by Chives2112 Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:56 am

This ROCKs! 215644238 Me likey! Make sure they at least keep the fall race date they used to have.
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Post by TheRacingExperts Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:22 am

This ROCKs! 4276145973 ZOMG, NASCAR ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING SMART???
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Post by Guest Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:17 am

This, indeed, rocks.

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Post by navycook75 Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:36 am

If NASCAR does go back to Rockingham, no matter what series it is, I would love to get tickets for it.
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Post by F1V1 Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:45 pm

It makes me happy that they're bringing back the Rock, but it makes me sad knowing that they'll ruin it in 5 years by adding progressive banking Sad


Last edited by F1V1 on Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Post by gone-sovereign Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:45 pm

YUS!

I wasn't a fan yet when NASCAR was still using this track, but I came to love it when I raced there on the current version in NR2003.
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Post by Tonyl14 Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:47 pm

Can't wait to see that.
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Post by PYLrulz Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:49 pm

Well, it is looking like the teams are losing a test track
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Post by MPatterson1724 Thu Aug 18, 2011 2:56 pm

never was a really big fan of this track, really if they bring cup back anywhere it needs to be a second date for darlington
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