NASCAR Homestead-Miami changes considered

Improvements may include increased banking and changing the surface.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
MIAMI -- Homestead-Miami Speedway has been maligned by NASCAR fans and drivers for the boring, "follow the leader" races it has produced due to the lack of steep banking. But the 1.5-mile, nearly flat oval might soon be revamped.
For the past few weeks engineers have been conducting studies, and input has been gathered from drivers and officials from NASCAR, the Indy Racing League and Goodyear Tire & amp; Rubber Company to determine if changes should be made to the speedway that opened in 1995.
Urgency
"We've got to decide something pretty quickly," Homestead-Miami Speedway president Curtis Gray said. "If we're going to do something, we've got to get it construction done by November. We're getting down to the wire."
All three of NASCAR's national series -- the Winston Cup, the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck series -- end at Homestead in mid-November.
The weather makes Homestead a great place to finish, but the racing does not.
Homestead is the flattest course in the Winston Cup series. While a flat course is fine for track-hugging Indy cars, it does not make for much passing in stock cars and trucks.
Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth said earlier this year it's easy to drive because there is only one groove, which makes passing extremely difficult and two-wide racing virtually nonexistent.
Lucky 13
Homestead is on a year-to-year contract with NASCAR. The track is not in danger of losing races since it's part of the 13-track International Speedway Corp., whose chairman Bill France Jr. is also NASCAR's chairman. Further, Miami is an important market in NASCAR's effort to tap into the Hispanic market. But there's no guarantee the track will host the three series' finales next season.
"I think NASCAR wants to be here for the last race of the season, regardless if we change the track or not," Gray said. "It's a big market and great place to host all three series. But I can't say it's an absolute, for-sure thing."
Gray said NASCAR has not demanded changes.
"NASCAR doesn't mandate things like this," NASCAR spokesman Herb Branham said. "We've had discussions with the people at Homestead. It's our understanding that they might make possible improvements at the track. We would welcome any improvements."
Those improvements, which most likely would include increasing the banking from 6 degrees to possibly 20 degrees or steeper, and could also include a change of the asphalt surface, would cost the city of Homestead millions, Gray said.