Virginia’s Richmond Raceway, with its “D” shaped oval track, is considered iconic by many race fans.

So, you can imagine the thrill lifelong Richmond resident David Coleman experienced when he found out his next project was working on an infield expansion project at the raceway.

“This was a great project to be a part of. You see it when you’re flying home, in ads across the area, and when you watch the race,” said Coleman, Project Controls Manager for Donley’s Concrete Group. “It gave our team a lot of pride to be a part of it and it’s one of the projects that’s fun to point out and say you placed the concrete.”

AN ENHANCED FAN EXPERIENCE

The project was all about people – creating a memorable experience for the next generation of fans. Donley was working on the concrete services portion of the venture, with support from The Cat® Rental Store and local Cat dealer Carter Machinery.

Completed in 2018, the revamped, interactive infield puts fans closer to the action than ever before, letting fans view the garage areas from walkways just a few feet from the cars and race teams. It also features luxury suites and expanded offerings for concessions and entertainment. Meanwhile, fans with pit passes can now watch the crews get ready and come and go as they please during the race. For Donley, working on the Richmond Raceway project meant tackling both new challenges to coordinate a range of requirements needed to create this new fan experience.

“There is about 100,000 square feet of concrete slab for the infield entertainment areas,” Coleman said. “This was a unique challenge to build, as it needed to be within strict tolerances to allow racecars to travel over the slab to winners circle and allow race fans an up close and personal relationship with the race.”

WHEN RELATIONSHIPS MATTER

The Cat Rental Store was a major player in helping Donley get the work done, supplying everything from generators, wheel loaders, soil compactors, skid steers, and mini excavators to light plants and plate compactors.

“For the raceway project we had several pieces of equipment on site for the duration,” Coleman said.  “We also worked closely with Caterpillar to meet the schedule and accommodate the mobilization and demobilization as needed for raceway activities. It’s a great relationship to have with Caterpillar when we can call our dealer and say ‘something just came up, I need this equipment yesterday, and gone tomorrow’."