Mid-Ohio Completes Track Repave

A full repave project of the entire racing surface at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was completed last week, officials from Green Savoree Racing Promotions, which owns and operates the track, announced on Tuesday.

Ohio-based Kokosing Construction Company, Inc. began initial repair work the week of Oct. 16, followed by milling the existing track surface on Monday, Oct. 23 and completing the paving of the final asphalt surface layer on Friday, Oct. 27.

The project was a collaborative effort using the services of Kokosing Construction Company, Inc., Kokosing Materials, Inc. and Advanced Materials Services, LLC.

Planning and thorough research for the repaving began in 2022 with a test layer placed in Turn 1 for performance evaluation of a racetrack-specific asphalt mixture during the 2023 racing season.

The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course racing surface was last repaved starting fall 2005 and completed in spring 2006.

“We were blessed with outstanding weather last week for the crews to complete this major project in a relatively short amount of time,” said Kevin Savoree, co-owner, president and chief operating officer of Green Savoree Racing Promotions.

“It was a tremendous accomplishment and collaboration between Kokosing Construction, Kokosing Materials, Advanced Materials Services and our own track operations team to make it happen. We look forward to getting race cars on it for the first time next spring!”

Last week’s work utilized approximately 100 people, 5,000 manpower hours, 15 trucks to remove approximately 6,000 tons (300 truckloads) of old track material and 30 trucks to haul in 6,000 tons of the new asphalt mixture onto the property.

The project encompassed 11,550 feet of surface paving, 3,500 feet of various turn reinforcement, 500 feet of full depth repair in the Keyhole and Turn 12 areas and 300 feet of transverse joint repair.

After milling the racing surface, the second step of the process for Kokosing featured asphalt repairs and reinforcement of high stress areas which required additional milling depth.

For the final stage, two pavers placed the asphalt surface layer at 40-foot width around the entire circuit, working in echelon (side-by-side pattern) to avoid a centerline joint throughout the track’s 2.258-mile, 13-turn or 2.4-mile, 15-turn layout.

The old, milled track material is being recycled and regraded to create additional paddock and parking surface areas on the Mid-Ohio property.

The new track surface will be allowed to cure for over five months in advance of the 2024 season, which will include the return of IMSA competition for a headline Michelin Pilot Challenge event in June that will also include several support series.