Pocono Mountain Speedway readies for 2002 season

Off Season Has Been Anything But, At Mountain Speedway

ST. JOHNS, PA -- January 03, 2002 -- The unusually warm temperatures this past fall opened the door for some well-received improvements on the track and in the pit area at Mountain Speedway. A number of paving projects that began not long after the 2001 season ended, were completed just before the cold weather settled in.

The semi trailer that had been used for storage, on the right side when looking into the pits from turn 1, has been removed. In its place is a new paved and lighted tech area. This new area will fit the top five feature finishers, and will be used for the post race tech inspections, including scaling. "Moving the tech area, is also a huge safety improvement", says speedway promoter, Joe Calavini. The benefit is realized by moving the tech inspection congestion away from the area previously used near the turn 1 entrance to the pits.

A paving project that has received enthusiastic comments from the drivers, has been the paving of the side and back roads of the pits. There is now a two lane paved road around the entire pit area. Now more drivers and crews can enjoy the same paved pit area to work on the car that had been reserved for the modifieds in the past. The race staging area at the track entrance in turn 2, has also been paved.

Viewable to the fans from the grandstands, will be the continuation of the paving from victory lane to the pit entrance. A paving project that was delayed until spring, will be the resurfacing of turns 3 and 4. This will smooth over a small bump in turn 3, and seal cold water spring that seeps through the track in turn 4 after heavy rains.

Calavini is entering his third year in charge of the racing program at the 1/3 mile asphalt facility in Northeast PA. He has made it his top priority, to continually improve the facility and racing program. Currently, the final touches are being put on the 2002 rules and schedule. Both will be released shortly, further emphasizing his commitment to the drivers and fans, to make the speedway a world class race track.

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