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Dover removes seats, replaces catchfence during off-season: Race fans and competitors arriving in Dover for the May 29-31, 2015 race weekend may notice the addition, and subtraction, of a few things they saw when they last visited the Monster Mile. The Speedway's maintenance and operations departments, along with a bevy of outside contractors, have been busy preparing the property for the upcoming spring race weekend. The highlights include the installation of a $2.9 million safety catch fence that encircles the track's outside retaining walls, and the elimination of 17,500 seats in Turn 2 and Turn 3. Some of the least desirable seating from the areas furthest from the start-finish line were removed, paving the way for future improvements. The reduction of seating is part of a long-term process that will continue to allow the facility to evolve to meet the needs of fans. In between the 2014 race weekends in Dover, contractors began the installation of support structures for the new fence. The day after the fall 2014 race weekend, on Sept. 29, work began to complete the project. Demolition of the old fence began as the construction of the new fence occurred simultaneously. The new fence was installed by Smith Fence, a Florida-based contractor that has performed similar installations at other facilities on the NASCAR circuit. The project incorporates the most up-to-date technologies and stands at 21-feet tall, up from the original fence which stood at 15-feet tall. Fans in Dover may also notice the elimination of grandstand seating in the upper and lower sections of Turn 2, and the lower section of Turn 3, bringing the new capacity around the one-mile oval to 95,500. The reduction follows a trend in all professional sports venues and race tracks, as the Speedway explores ways to utilize the new-found footprint in different ways. The removal of seats occurred soon after the end of the 2014 motorsports season in Dover and was completed in April 2015. The area of the property outside of Turn 2, near the track's Gate 12 and the entrance to the walkover bridge to the infield, has been improved with new pavement, permanent landscaping and signage. The current plan is to remove the upper sections of Turn 3 after the fall 2015 NASCAR race weekend, which will bring the final seating capacity of the facility to approx. 85,000 seats.(Dover International Speedway)(5-29-2015)

Carl Long hits metal from #97 car during practice: Crew chief John Monsam could not do enough after tungsten fell off his car and struck #13-Carl Long's car causing Long to wreck Friday at Dover International Speedway - the second time in the last month weight has fallen off an Xfinity car. The weight fell off #97-Peyton Sellers' car Friday morning during Xfinity practice. Long's car ran over it, destroying the radiator. Water gushed on to Long's front tires and he had no control, sliding up into the Turn 4 wall. After hitting, the throttle hung until he hit the inside wall. Long was uninjured and working with his crew to prepare his backup car. "I cannot apologize enough," Monsam said after delivering four shocks to Long and his crew as they took parts from the primary car to put on the backup car. "An error on our part. There's no excuse for it. All we can be right now is very grateful that Carl did not get hurt. Mistakes happen. Nobody's perfect. I think it's just a coincidence that it happened a couple of weeks ago to someone else. All I can say is I will take every step to make sure we're right with Carl and it will never happen again." Long was appreciative of Monsam's apology and help, but the incident put him behind. "It just killed us," Long said. '"It's the best race car that I've got. First time I got a chance to race in a long time. This wasn't a start and park."(NBC Sports)(5-29-2015)