NASCAR Jet Dryer Headed To Philly To Help Speed Up The I-95 Opening (PICS)

This is so awesome! Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro announced a few days ago that the temporary roadway to open all lanes of i95 would be open this weekend. Every one was extremely excited, until we saw the weather forecast. What will happen with the opening timeline if it rains all weekend? Turns out, someone had a brilliant idea to call Pocono Raceway for help.

Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll called Pocono Raceway on Wednesday afternoon to ask for help, and they stepped in immediately to assist. Operators from Pocono Raceway are prepared to stay at the site as long as they are needed, according to Ricky Durst, senior director of marketing at the Monroe County racetrack.

Here's how it works: Paving on the six-lane segment reconnecting I-95 happened overnight on Wednesday, according to PennDOT. And this morning, after a Pa. State Police escort down to the construction site, the jet dryer starts the work of keeping the newly laid asphalt dry so construction crews can paint the lines on top of it, Durst said.

“All things being equal, I would anticipate it takes maybe a couple hours” to dry the segment, Durst told Billy Penn.

Check out the pics below to see how it works. And obviously you can watch on the i95 live stream.

Pretty remarkable how fast these amazing crews have gotten this done.

Stephen Starr has a ton of restaurants in and around Philly, and NYC as well.  Buddakah, Parc, Dandelion just to name a few, and they made sure all the workers were probably fueled.