SO LONG PIR: Phoenix International Raceway gets new name, as well as upgrades

AVONDALE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - More changes are coming to the Phoenix International Raceway (PIR), including a name change.

As part of the multimillion dollar renovations, PIR will now be called ISM Raceway. Other changes include new tools like video boards everywhere, wifi service all over the complex, brand new seating, and a whole new infield set up, with the traditional start-finish line being pushed to the south side of the track.

The changes are all part of a $180 million renovation project that is coming this winter. Ingenuity Sun Media (ISM) will make the investment, hence the name change for the track, after 54 years of being known as the PIR. ISM will reportedly pay $100 million, spread out over the next 10 years, to help pay for the track.

"It's not just a naming rights deal that you see traditionally," said ISM Raceway President Bryan Sperber. "It's really a partnership to delight and please our fans. I don't know too many other relationships like that in sports."

"Young people demand this technology," said Governor Doug Ducey. "When you have a sport like Nascar, I think in many ways it's like golf. Sometimes, it's easier to know what's going on when you're at home watching at home on television, but yet it's so great to be out there at the racetrack, and have that fan experience to smell the smells and hear the sounds."

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip said loves his trips to the PIR, but that's not the case, he said, with his teenage daughter.

"My daughter's like, I can't take any selfies and send them, which is tragic, I know," said Waltrip. "When you're a father and you want your daughter to enjoy the sport and just take it in, you want her to have all those tools."