With newly surfaced asphalt under foot and heavy equipment vehicles in the background, Ryan Preece received an up-close look at the Monster Mile’s new headquarters for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams on Thursday.
Preece, driver of the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro for JTG Daugherty Racing, and Speedway officials took a tour of Dover International Speedway’s new $5.5 million Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage and met with area media members in advance of the Oct. 4-6 NASCAR tripleheader weekend at the Monster Mile, featuring the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race on Sunday, Oct. 6.
The Oct. 6 race is the first event in the Round of 12 in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series postseason and the 100th NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover. The Monster Mile will be just the 10th track in the nation to have hosted 100 or more NASCAR Cup Series events.
Dover International Speedway’s new garage is located between Turns 1 and 2 in the infield, a shift from its previous spot closer to Turn 1. The garage includes an Allied Steel Building, the official and exclusive steel buildings of Dover International Speedway. Raynor Garage Doors, the preferred garage door of Dover International Speedway, is providing the garage doors for the project.
“It looks awesome,” said Preece, who is competing for 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors. “It’s going to help all of us during our practice sessions, pulling in and out of the garage will be easier and it will give the teams a better work environment for sure.”
Some highlights and features of the new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage include:
• Expanded square footage: 23,100 from 18,400, a 20 percent increase
• Includes 44 large garage bays (15-foot by 30-foot) with individual garage doors for cars and teams
• Larger garage area footprint: Existing guardrail facing Turns 1 and 2 to be removed, along with grass areas on the inside of the turns. The area inside the apron will now be fully paved, with SAFER barriers covering the entire length of the inside walls of Turns 1 and 2.
• The apron area inside Turn 1 will also be repaved
• Design: Becker-Morgan Architects out of Dover, Del.
• Contractor: Kent Construction out of Smyrna, Del.
Preece also got behind the wheel of one of the construction team’s bulldozers, and even lifted the blade, but made sure not to accelerate, choosing to save his speed for the upcoming Dover weekend.
Work on the garage project began on Tuesday, May 7, immediately after the spring NASCAR tripleheader weekend, and is scheduled to be completed by Friday, Sept. 20.
Later, Preece visited the Speedway ticket office, greeted the event experience specialists, posed for photos with the golden Monster Trophy and called several NASCAR fans, thanking them for purchasing ticket packages for future Monster Mile events.
The Oct. 4-6 NASCAR tripleheader weekend also includes the “General Tire 125” NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season finale on Friday, Oct. 4 and the “Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200” NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff race on Saturday, Oct. 5.
In addition to the iconic gold Monster trophies given to the race winners, fans can also enjoy free Harlem Globetrotters performances (Sunday), a free Grand Funk Railroad concert on the Xfinity Stage at Victory Plaza (Sunday), Micro Wrestling Federation matches (Saturday and Sunday), a Winston Cup Mobile Museum display (all weekend) and much more in our FanZone as we continue our 50th Anniversary celebration.
Dover International Speedway PR
