As the new president of Daytona International Speedway, Joie Chitwood III knows more than a little about taking risks and gaining rewards from it.

He talked recently with NASCAR.COM about his background and how he thinks that will help him in his new position.

Question: Could you talk a little about your new job?

Chitwood: When I think about opportunities to be involved in this sport, being president of Daytona ... I can't think of anything better. We host NASCAR's biggest event at really the birthplace of the sport down here in Daytona Beach.

I was born and raised in Tampa, Fla. My family has owned tickets to the Daytona 500 for over 26 years, and they are still in our family today. I remember coming here when I was young, and getting to watch all the great track activity. To now be a part of it in management is just fantastic.

Q: What are some of the challenges you face?

Chitwood: We've got some definite challenges. The world has changed the last couple of years. We've got a consumer out there that is feeling pressure from all sides -- whether it's the job market or the housing market or the general economic outlook of this country. That makes the challenge of selling sports tickets that much greater.

We've got a repaving project under way, as you well know. The challenge to be ready for next February is very important. We've had a great summer so far in terms of weather. They forecast a terrible hurricane summer, but so far we've been lucky with that. So our project is coming along excellent.

Q: Can you give us a more specific update?

Chitwood: We started with [repaving in] Turns 3 and 4 [late last week] and already have three layers of asphalt down in the backstretch. From that perspective, we feel really good about where we are and where we're going to be in terms of the new year.

The chance to see the Daytona 500 on a repaved race track is going to be pretty unique. When we did the repave at Talladega [Superspeedway in 2006], we got great results. I expect that the 2011 Daytona 500 will be one of the most competitive, based on the new asphalt we've got for the drivers.

Q: How do you think the repaving of DIS will affect the racing on the track?

Chitwood: Well, one of the issues we faced was further degradation of the track itself -- whether it was going to be bumps, waves, dips. So the chance to provide a more even race surface for all of them will be good for the competition. They'll all be coming into a bit of the unknown, so they'll have to re-do their data based on how the track responds or how their cars respond to the track in certain weather conditions.

So I think it provides a little bit of the unknown and might mix it up a little bit in terms of which teams are prepared to race on the new surface. I think that's good for the sport. (Continued)