Richmond International Raceway is getting a 153-foot facelift.
RIR unveiled its new video scoring tower to members of the media yesterday, a little more than a month before the track opens its doors April 30 and May 1 for its first Nationwide and Sprint Cup series races of the year.
The tower has four video screens at the top, each 38 feet wide by 24 feet high, and leader boards down the sides, each measuring 13 feet wide by 67 feet high.
The tower is billed as the largest and having the most LED square footage at any track in motorsports.
"The fans are going to be really, really excited when they see this April 30," track president Doug Fritz said. "Nothing like being an industry leader. We're really excited about it."
The video tower -- still under construction -- replaces an older, 58-foot scoring pylon. Fritz helped construction crews begin to disassemble the pylon yesterday. The old pylon lacked the color display the new tower provides. The four LED screens replace a single screen that was only visible from one straightaway.
The addition is expected to create a better fan experience.
"It's going to be seen by every single seat," Fritz said. "When you're in the grandstands, it's the perfect size for the fans."
Fritz said fans had requested this upgrade, and that the tower had been in planning as long as he's been at RIR, dating back to 1999.
"As good of an experience as you'll see at home on television, you'll see here sitting in the grandstands," Fritz said. "With the Sprint Vision we had before, it was a great amenity for the race fans, but there was no way we could cover all the seats with the exposure of the screens and the scoreboard. This will do that."
Fritz declined to reveal the price of the tower, saying, "It wasn't cheap, as you can only imagine."
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