“Rusty had very high standards going in,” says Josh Thompson, Senior Consultant at Atlanta-based Polysonics Corp, the company behind the Speedway’s audio, video and data infrastructures. “He wanted to offer the best racing surface, the best fan experience, and the most technically advanced racing facility in America.” Wallace brought in racetrack veteran Andy Vertrees as the venue’s Chief Operating Officer.
“We take a lot of pride in what we do,” Vertrees explains. “We’ve done so many out-of-the-box things here, from embedding cameras in the track to putting Geofoam blocks over the tunnel so the track doesn’t freeze and thaw. One of the most important things for me was a sound system that really worked, with dependable coverage both inside and outside the venue. I hired Josh and Polysonics to bring me that system.”
“Andy phoned to talk about the PA system, and it became clear immediately that Polysonics could bring a whole lot more to the table,” Thompson recalls. Polysonics ultimately handled the Speedway’s data, phone and broadcast infrastructures as well. “It’s the only track in the US that’s 100% fiber optics, point to point, for telephone and data traffic,” Thompson observes.
The main audio system is comprised of 36 Community R.5-HP loudspeakers mounted on the wheel fence. “For an application like this, covering seating that is better measured in acres than in rows, the R.5-HP is really the only choice,” says Thompson. “It’s a weather-proof, camera-friendly package with minimal impact on sightlines that can deliver full-range, extremely high SPL audio. Nothing else we have found even comes close.”
The rest of the Speedway’s sound system is also Community, with Cloud4 ceiling speakers covering the indoor lounge areas, while I/O5 and additional R-Series speakers are placed behind the seating and in parking areas. “We specified Community loudspeakers throughout the entire Speedway project for several reasons,” Thompson explains. “Beyond the economies of scale, competitive pricing and simplified project management tasks, Community has a diverse enough product line to meet every application, from the 118dB wheel-fence system, to the significantly quieter suites and offices. Even more importantly, Community has proven to be an excellent partner, both in terms of the breadth of their product line and their unparalleled support.”
The system is powered by Crown iTech amplification, which also handles much of the system-critical signal processing. “One of the key mandates from Andy was that they didn’t want an engineer to have to come out and mix every event,” says Thompson. “We’ve implemented critical DSP – delay, compression, EQ, speaker protection – via the Crown iT-8000. That allowed us to lock those system-level functions and make the operation fairly idiot-proof.”
Front-end control utilizes an ELO Touchsystems 1715L touchscreen to access preset recalls on the BSS London. “The touchscreen’s simplified GUI allows any untrained personnel to run the system,” says Thompson. The touchscreen provides microphone on/off and three volume levels, cued to events on the track. “Green flag level is for full-on racing volume. Yellow flag is a mid-level volume, for events like a wreck, where the race slows down a bit, and red flag is for stopped conditions. Most tracks don’t have the luxury of different levels, and that green-flag level will part your hair under pre-race, red flag conditions.”
As Thompson points out, the project’s biggest challenge was the highly compressed time frame, going from corn field to speedway in just under 18 months. “Everything associated with racing is fast,” he states. “It’s inherent in the mentality of the entire team. From their perspective, they can tear a car apart, rebuild it and run it around the track in 15 minutes, and everyone else needs to keep up. There’s a tremendous level of complexity in a speedway project, and you’ve got to be on your game.”
The time frame was probably the biggest challenge,” agrees Ward Jorgenson of Communications Engineering Corporation. Des Moines-based CEC was contracted for installation of the audio, CCTV and broadcast fiber optics. “That, and the fact that everyone else was on an equally tight schedule. All the trades were working at the same time, which meant everyone had to coordinate their phase of any given area, and work around everyone else. Our guys averaged between 70 and 90 hours per week.”
Opened in August 2006, the Speedway has met with high praise from fans and media, and has a full calendar of racing, concerts and other events lined up for this year and beyond. Plans are for more Rusty Wallace Signature tracks in the future. Josh Thompson sums it up: “The place is gorgeous. It’s a shining example of how to build a racetrack.”
