Hurricane Matthew does MAJOR DAMAGE to New Smyrna!!! Checkout picturs on....

[Bobby Diehl]

Hurricane Matthew does MAJOR DAMAGE to New Smyrna Speedway!!! Checkout pictures on Andrew Hart's Facebook page:

Andrew Hart added 4 new photos — with Robert L. Hart at New Smyrna Speedway.
12 hrs · New Smyrna Beach ·

Talk about track debris! The southern side stands were lifted and flipped onto the track. Other than a peeled pit roof and bent billboards, no other damage. Stay tuned for schedule changes, this is gonna take time to clean up.....@wftv #hurricanematthew

Our support goes out to the whole New Smyrna Family. Please let us all know how we can pitch to our Center of Racing!!!! Thank GOD no one was hurt.

[OldSchool+]

And while we are at it, am hoping Florida racers, as well as their cars and garages, all made it okay.

[Phil Jacques]

From Andrew's FB page...

[Bobby Diehl]

Thanks Phil for posting the photos!!!

Thanks Phil for posting the photos!!! I am sure the Hart Family will come back STRONGER and BETTER then EVER!!!!

[AB195]

hurricane--

rarely have I seen a raceway this badly damaged. these new aluminum grandstands have only been around for a few months, and the weight is only a mild form of the old heavy wooden grandstands before. the catch fence and cables are to restrain race cars from going out, not grandstands from coming in onto it. go figure. there is enough aluminum, way out there in the field there, to build 4 times this what you see. they'll be alright. and it's not that those stands were even being occupied by many a race fan anyway, on any given night-save speedweek- or gov. cup weekend, which is next month .cranes and labor are needed to right these stands up again. the sheet metal on the pit area can be easily fixed, though.

[sbracer58]

rarely have I seen a raceway this badly damaged. these new aluminum grandstands have only been around for a few months, and the weight is only a mild form of the old heavy wooden grandstands before. the catch fence and cables are to restrain race cars from going out, not grandstands from coming in onto it. go figure. there is enough aluminum, way out there in the field there, to build 4 times this what you see. they'll be alright. and it's not that those stands were even being occupied by many a race fan anyway, on any given night-save speedweek- or gov. cup weekend, which is next month .cranes and labor are needed to right these stands up again. the sheet metal on the pit area can be easily fixed, though.

The only thing "new" was the seating and walking areas, all the framework was still the original steel. And as I understand it, those bleachers were bolted down to concrete footings. So if that's the case, the steel was so badly rusted that it broke allowing the bleachers to flip onto the track. NSS may have gotten lucky here. Can you imagine if those collapse under weight of spectators? What a disaster that would have been!!

[Don Nerone]

The only thing "new" was the seating and walking areas, all the framework was still the original steel. And as I understand it, those bleachers were bolted down to concrete footings. So if that's the case, the steel was so badly rusted that it broke allowing the bleachers to flip onto the track. NSS may have gotten lucky here. Can you imagine if those collapse under weight of spectators? What a disaster that would have been!!

Those are mod 50 stands bilt buy Reves steel. they are ground bearing and don't have footers.
This has happened at alburndale and Desoto in the past.
They don't bolt together. the all seats are lighter so it easy to blow them over.
You take them apart ware they are and build them back.
That would be a hard week for a good crew.
A crane wont work..Tried that one time .

Robert has built many of them.


don62

[Phil Jacques]

Something to consider and remember is that landfall hurricanes can spin up tornados. Back in 2004 and 2005 with Frances and Jeanne in my area, we had a few of those rip through the airport and actually tear entire hangers from their foundation. It's not at all out of the realm of possibility that this is what happened at New Smyrna. When NSS did the work to those stands, I'm sure they had to be inspected. It's also not likely the Heart family would put lives in danger by overlooking safety like that and risk their livelihood.

[Don Nerone]

Something to consider and remember is that landfall hurricanes can spin up tornados. Back in 2004 and 2005 with Frances and Jeanne in my area, we had a few of those rip through the airport and actually tear entire hangers from their foundation. It's not at all out of the realm of possibility that this is what happened at New Smyrna. When NSS did the work to those stands, I'm sure they had to be inspected. It's also not likely the Heart family would put lives in danger by overlooking safety like that and risk their livelihood.

mod50 stands do not have a foundation. They are used at all the tracks in florida . Alburndale has block stands in the front and mod 50s in the back.
also north fl has block and as I rember no mod 50s.
citrus
arlberndale
east bay
showtime
Desoto
pg ? what ever they call it had them also
Orlando speed world half and half
all the drag strips
most of the mud boggin tracks
motor cross and bmx tracks use them
the racetrack in Lakeland did not have any. They sold all of them from the old track.
They safe under 85 mph winds. so if ur sitting in one of these buy ur self and the winds are at hurcane force. ITS NOT SAFE.
Now that is funny I think

don62

[ancrdave]

Speed51 story:

One of the strongest hurricanes to hit the east coast of the United States in quite a few years ravaged the coast of Florida on Friday. New Smyrna Speedway near Daytona Beach, Florida suffered some damage from the category two storm.

“From the end of the existing tower all the way to turn one, those grandstands flipped straight forward over the catch fence and are laying on the front stretch,” said track general manager, Kim Brown. “All of the billboards are pretty much destroyed. The roof of the pit office has been peeled off.”

The grandstands on the turn one side of the main tower had been all wood prior to this year. The speedway replaced those grandstands with aluminum grandstands just before the start of this year’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing in February.

Brown said she did not believe the flipping of the grandstands was caused by anything other than strong wind gusts. She said track received wind gusts of close to 100 mph throughout the day.

After photos of the damage originally surfaced, many in the racing community began to wonder if New Smyrna Speedway would be able to host the 51st Annual Florida Governor’s Cup 200 on November 13. Brown said that the track would be in racing condition well before then.

“I think the track will be ready for the motorcycle event we have this Saturday,” she said. “The grandstands won’t be back up, but the company has been out and a crane company is coming out to at least get them off the race track and the catch fence. That way we can start repairs. As far as grandstands go, I don’t have a firm plan for that yet. We’ll take that as we can. The main thing is getting it all cleaned up right now.

“It may not be the prettiest place still, but Robert (Hart, track owner) said in times like this we dig in our heels and go to work.”

[Bobby Diehl]

Great To Hear!!!!!

GREAT TO HEAR!!!!! Thanks Kim for the up date. Hopefully the 10/22/16 Pro Truck Race "The Main Event" is still on. I know the "Old Fart Touring Fan Group" are ready for a ROAD TRIP!!! We will have new members for the first time at a Stock Car Race. Please let us know when you have a better grasp on the date. Again THANKS for the up date!!! See YOU SOON!!!!

[Modowner]

When you fix the Tech Area can you please update the restrooms.
Thanks

[AB195]

it will be fine--

the tech facilities will be good to go again, for sure. the ladies rooms will be up do date again. but if the men's rooms aren't perfect, don't go going dropping a deuce in a urinal-----I've seen that before, and it's really bad.