Daytona International Speedway

• Daytona International Speedway Track History

NASCAR founder William France Sr. began planning for the track in 1953 as a way to promote the series, which at the time was racing on the Daytona Beach Road Course. He met with Daytona Beach engineer Charles Moneypenny to discuss his plans for the speedway.

Wanting high banking to allow the cars to reach high speeds, Moneypenny traveled to Ford Proving Grounds in Detroit, Michigan. Sharing their engineering reports of the track with Moneypenny, providing the needed details of how to transition the pavement from a flat straightaway to a banked corner.

The city commission agreed to lease the 447-acre (181 ha) parcel of land adjacent to Daytona Beach Municipal Airport to France's corporation for $10,000 a year over a 50-year period.

Over a million square yards of soil from the track's infield. The excavated hole filled with water to form what is now known as Lake Lloyd, named after Joseph "Sax" Lloyd, one of the original six members of the Daytona Beach Speedway Authority.

Moneypenny had to come up with a way to pave the incline. He connected the paving equipment to bulldozers anchored at the top of the banking. This would allow the paving equipment to pave the banking without slipping or rolling down the incline. Talladega Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway where built in a similar fashion.

The first practice run on the new track began on February 6, 1959. On February 22, 1959, 42,000 people attended the inaugural Daytona 500.

When the track opened it was the fastest race track to ever host a stock car race, until Talladega Superspeedway opened 10 years later.

Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary high-speed tri-oval, a sports car course, a motorcycle course, and a karting and motorcycle flat-track.

Lights were installed around the track in 1998, and today it is the third-largest single lit outdoor sports facility. The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010.

On January 22, 2013, the track unveiled artist depictions of a renovated speedway. Ground was broken on the project that removed backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation to the speedway was constructed by Design-Builder After the renovations were completed, the track's grandstands include 101,000 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000.

Further Information

Wikipedia

Racing Circuit Info

Rolex 24 of Daytona Winners