Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Sports Car Club of America^® share quite a history. The Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA^® Super Tour (HST) will undoubtedly add to that story this weekend on a circuit that has recently seen some changes.

What impact will changes have on HST’s visit May 16-18, 2025, hosted by SCCA’s Ohio Valley Region? The best way to find out is to tune into HST’s multi-camera, online video broadcast available for free at SCCA’s YouTube page. Produced by DriversEye Live, the broadcast includes commentary from Brian Bielanski and long-time Mid-Ohio announcer Tom Michaels.

Track Changes at Mid-Ohio

Green Savoree Racing Promotions, which operates Mid-Ohio, was busy this offseason. An extensive update around Turn 4 was made that included modifications to the runoff area known as China Beach, as well as the replacement of safety barriers and fencing in three areas of the track.

The undertaking was a collaborative effort involving designers, engineers, and even Dallara race testing simulations. According to a news release, Turn 4’s original footprint was preserved with the existing apex curbing kept in place at driver’s right. Its banking was reduced from 4 to 2 degrees by removing 520 feet of track surface and excavating up to 18 inches along the outside edge. This track section was reconstructed with new underdrains, aggregate base and high-performance asphalt to duplicate the resurfacing done in the fall of 2023.

The Turn 4 runoff area was also reshaped. The original runoff gravel was stripped and extensive material, including 500 repurposed concrete blocks, were brought in to fill and raise the surface level of the area. After the runoff area was graded, the original gravel was respread over the new surface. Also, track millings were used to create access roads at the top and bottom on the back hillside of the graded runoff to facilitate maintenance and safety access when the track is in use.

Another aspect of this project was improving Turn 4’s drainage. Both sides of the track were regraded starting 400 feet before the turn to address water flow. New catch basins were added on the inside of the turn and a new 24-inch pipe was installed under the track to move water behind the China Beach runoff area.

An additional phase of the work this offseason was replacement of concrete barrier blocks with 5,300 feet of guardrail and new fencing around the track. Areas include the front straight on driver’s right, both sides of the backstraight, and then the Turn 4 area including driver’s right through the “Esses” segment.

Mid-Ohio officials went on to state that this most recent work was the first track modification to the natural terrain road course since 1989 when the entire racing surface was repaved and widened to 40 feet. That project also included the installation of a straight option between Turn 1 and the 180-degree turn known as the Keyhole. That ultimately created the popular 2.258-mile, 13-turn configuration used by most professional racing series today in addition to the original 2.4-mile, 15-turn format.

But Wait, There’s More

Mid-Ohio didn’t stop with changes to the racetrack. They also invested in improvements to the paddock area that will likely be greatly appreciated by drivers, team and fans alike.

Repaved were 4,920 linear feet of the facility’s access and service roads utilized by spectators and competitors. That’s 201,000 square feet of work overall and included repaving the road that leads through the main spectator gate (Gate #1) off of Steam Corners Road and enters north through the property toward the paddock areas and infield.

The access road between the middle and upper paddocks was also repaved, in addition to the false grid road leading onto the track near the last turn. Pavement was also put down around the Mid-Ohio Operations Building which is often used during non-spectator racing activities.

In all, Mid-Ohio installed five new catch basins, put down 520 linear feet of track paving, installed 1,370 feet of new drainage pipes, and hauled in 1,875 loads of material in the form of 4,900 tons of asphalt. Then to top it off they repurposed 500 concrete blocks originally used at an IMSA event in downtown Columbus in the 1980s. Finally, they covered it all with 15,500 cubic yards of fill material.

That’s one pretty busy and productive offseason.

Photo by SCCA Staff