Daytona Int'l Speedway has signed construction products company USG Corporation as a sponsor of its $400M renovation project. The sponsorship is a mix of value-in-kind products and cash. USG becomes the latest to join the speedway's construction project sponsorship program, which is called "We Built Daytona." USG's drywall and ceiling panels will be used on the interior of the renovated speedway and its Securock Glass-Mat Sheathing will be used on the exterior. The other “We Built Daytona” sponsors include paint company Sherwin-Williams; fan design company Big Ass Fans; architecture company Rossetti; and sustainable building products company Kingspan. As sponsors, they can promote the products being used in the Daytona renovation. They also receive digital signage and corporate hospitality during events (Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer).
SAFETY FIRST: SPORTING NEWS' Bob Pockrass reported DIS "will now have a SAFER Barrier on its outside retaining wall from the entrance of Turn 3 to the exit of Turn 2." This is part of the "installation of 2,400 additional feet of the barrier" added since February's Daytona 500. DIS Senior Dir of PR Lenny Santiago last night said that the track "did not have SAFER Barrier in parts of the trioval until the recent installation but now has it on all of the outside wall except for parts of the backstretch." NASCAR drivers have "lobbied tracks to install SAFER Barriers along all concrete walls" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 7/1).
LET'S GET COMFORTABLE: In Daytona Beach, Chris Graham reported DIS old seats "will be replaced with more than 100,000 plastic chairs that will have more forgiving, wider accommodations coupled with arm rests and cup holders" as part of the Daytona Rising project. About 1,500 new seats "have been installed at the Speedway, but will not be available for use" during this weekend's Coke Zero 400. The new seats are "more than 5 inches wider than the metal ones." DIS President Joie Chitwood III said that he believes the new chairs will "provide for a better experience for fans" (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 6/30).
