The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season-opener had to be stopped twice last Sunday for a total of more than two hours and 20 minutes, in order to repair a hole on the inside line of Turn 2.
In the end the issue was fixed temporarily using body filler known as Bondo, which officials collected from teams, allowing the race to be completed, although with a long delay which caused the event to end under the lights.
The track's president Robin Braig has announced that work towards an immediate and more permanent fix is already underway, using reinforced concrete to fill the hole, a solution already used in the past at many tracks.
"This is the correct course of action to repair the track," Braig said. "Our team of engineers and asphalt specialists with North American Testing Corporation has previous experience with concrete being used on an asphalt track and it is a proven solution."
The NATC specialists concluded that a combination of unusually cold and wet weather at Daytona, exacerbated by cars bottoming out in that specific section of the track, contributed to the breakdown of the pavement.
The Daytona surface was last repaved in 1978 and although a new repave is not imminent yet, an evaluation process from NATC will determine if such course of action is needed to ensure the long-term integrity of the track.
However, some drivers, including two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart, have said they would not like to see the current bumpy surface changed, as it ensures that Daytona poses a different challenge to Talladega, the other restrictor-plate track on the calendar.
"I would hate to see them repave this track right now and make it like Talladega because right now, the drivers are actually a huge part of the equation," said Stewart last Friday.
"Knowing what to do when you get to those bumps and knowing what your car is going to do and how it is going to react, that is making us have to use the whole race track. It is making us have to really work on the handling of our cars.
"That is the part that has probably excited me the most since I have been here."
The current repair is expected to be completed this week, in time to allow the track's events to take place on schedule.
The Sprint Cup Series will not be back at Daytona until 3 July for the Coke Zero 400.
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