PIR city names street in Earnhardt's honor

By Track Release

February 23, 2011

The city of Avondale, Ariz., will honor one of NASCAR's greatest families by naming a street in the new Avondale City Center Dale Earnhardt Drive. Both NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have won Cup Series events on PIR's 1-mile oval in Avondale.

On Sunday, Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers and Phoenix International Raceway president Bryan R. Sperber will present a replica of the street sign to Earnhardt in honor of his family's racing achievements and contributions to the sport of NASCAR.

"This is a special honor for my family, and we want to thank the city of Avondale, Mayor Rogers, and the entire Avondale community for recognizing my dad this way," Earnhardt said. "We've enjoyed racing at Phoenix International Raceway for years. It's one of the great tracks on the NASCAR circuit. The racing is always very good, and the fans are extremely passionate. The naming of Dale Earnhardt Drive is every bit a tribute to the passionate NASCAR fans in Arizona, and I hope they are equally as honored with this as we are."

Sperber said the honor is especially exciting because the honor is the first of its kind in a Phoenix metropolitan area that exceeds four million people.

"This is a first for the Valley of the Sun -- no city in the Phoenix area has ever named one of its streets after a NASCAR driver," Sperber said. "We appreciate the city of Avondale's leadership in recognition of NASCAR, race fans and one of the sport's truly remarkable families in bestowing this honor on the Earnhardts."

The north entrance to the new Avondale City Center, which is under construction along Avondale Boulevard -- a main thoroughfare leading to Phoenix International Raceway -- will bear the name Dale Earnhardt Drive.

"The city of Avondale is proud to be home to Phoenix International Raceway, which hosts two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races every year," Rogers said. "Dale Earnhardt's legacy was very much felt in Avondale as it was throughout the country. We've also had the pleasure of watching Dale Jr. carry that legacy forward at PIR. Avondale wishes to pay tribute to the Earnhardt family achievements, as well as recognize the huge economic significance of NASCAR and PIR to the metro-Phoenix region."

Avondale spent $6 million on infrastructure improvements to build Phase 1 of City Center. In November, American Sports Centers Avondale, an 83,000-square-foot indoor-sports facility, opened at the Randall McDaniel Sports Complex. A 24,500-square-foot retail component to feature shops and restaurants will be completed by fall.