Normally when adding a track in Avid, you get a new track on top of all your other tracks. Sometimes, though, you want to insert a track in the middle. There is actually a super-secret hidden way to do this:

Hold Option (mac) or Alt (PC) and right click on the timeline. You’ll see the standard context menu:

Option-Right Click or Alt-Right-Click on the timeline and select New Video Track

Select New Video Track.

At this point, if you didn’t hold Option, Avid would just add a new track to the top layer. Instead, you’ll see this small dialog:

Select the track number where you want to insert the track

This can be a little confusing. If you want your new track to appear underneath the current V3, select V3. In other words, whatever track number you select, that’s the layer where the new blank track will appear.

Select Insert to insert

Avid will ask you to confirm your selection. Luckily, there’s no way to mess this up and somehow “replace” an existing track with a blank track. Click “Insert” and you’ll see your new track.