Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway

The Daytona International Speedway Logo.
Location	1801 West International Speedway Blvd, Daytona Beach, Florida 32114
Time zone	GMT-5
Capacity	167,785
Owner	International Speedway Corporation (Leased from Daytona Beach Racing and Recreational Facilities District)
Operator	International Speedway Corporation
Broke ground	1957
Opened	1959
Construction cost	$3 million
Architect	Charles Moneypenny William France Sr.
Major events	NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 Coke Zero 400 Budweiser Shootout Gatorade Duel NASCAR Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300 Subway Jalapeno 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250 Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series Rolex 24 at Daytona Paul Revere 250 ARCA RE/MAX Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 AMA Daytona SportBike Daytona 200 AMA Motocross Daytona Supercross by Honda
Tri-Oval
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.5 mi (4 km)
Turns	4
Banking	31° Turns 18° Tri-oval 2° Back straightaway
Lap record	0:42.783 (Bill Elliott, Melling Racing, 1987, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series)
Sports Car Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	3.56 mi (5.7 km)
Turns	12
Banking	32° in oval turns 18° in tri-oval
Lap record	1:39.195 (Yannick Dalmas, Ferrari 333SP, 1998, USRRC Can-Am)
Motorcycle Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.95 mi (4.75 km)
Turns	12
Banking	32° in oval turns 18° in tri-oval
Lap record	1:37.546 (Ben Spies, Suzuki, 2007, AMA Superbike)
Dirt Flat Track
Surface	Dirt
Length	.25 mi (.40 km)
Turns	4
Banking	Flat

Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary 2.5 miles (4.0 km) high speed tri-oval, a 3.56 miles (5.73 km) sports car course, a 2.95 miles (4.75 km) motorcycle course, and a .25 miles (0.40 km) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The track was built in 1958 by NASCAR founder William France Sr. to host racing that was being held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998, and today it is the second 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 & 2010.

Track history

Construction

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.^[1] France met with Daytona Beach engineer Charles Moneypenney to discuss his plans for the speedway. He wanted the track to have the highest banking possible to allow the cars to reach high speeds and to give fans a better view of the cars on track. Moneypenny traveled to Detroit, Michigan to visit the Ford Proving Grounds which had a high speed test track with banked corners. Ford shared their engineering reports of the track with Moneypenney, providing the needed details of how to transition the pavement from a flat straightaway to a banked corner. France took the plans to the Daytona Beach city commission, who supported his idea and formed the Daytona Beach Speedway Authority.^[2]

Daytona International Speedway following the repaving of the track in 2010

The city commission agreed to lease the 447 acres (181 ha) parcel of land adjacent to Daytona Beach International Airport to France's corporation for $10,000 a year over a 50 year period. France then began working on building funding for the project and found support from a Texas oil millionaire, Clint Murchison. Murchison loaned France $600,000 along with the construction equipment necessary to build the track. France was also able to secure funding from Pepsi-Cola, General Motors designer Harley Earl, a second mortgage on his home and selling 300,000 stock shares to local residents. Ground broke on construction of the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) speedway on November 25, 1957.^[2]

To build the high banking, crews had to dig out millions of tons of soil from the tracks infield. Because of the high water table in the area, the hole that was excavated filled with water to form what is now known as Lake Lloyd, named after Joseph Saxton "Sax" Lloyd, one of the original six members of the Daytona Beach Speedway Authority. 22 tons of limerock had to be brought in to form the track's binding base, where the asphalt would be laid on top. Because of the extreme degree of banking, Moneypenney had to come up with a way to pave the incline. He connected the paving equipment to bulldozers that were anchored at the top of the banking. This would allow the paving equipment to pave the banking without slipping or rolling down the incline. Moneypenney subsequently patented his construction method and later designed Talladega Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway. By December 1958, France had begun to run out of money and started relying on race ticket sales to complete construction.^[2]

The first practice runs on the new track began on February 6, 1959. One February 22, 1959, 42,000 people attended the inaugural Daytona 500.^[2] When the track opened it was the fastest race track to ever host a stock car race, until Talladega Superspeedway opened 10 years later.^{[citation needed]}

Lights were installed around the track in 1998 to run NASCAR's July race, the Coke Zero 400 at night. The track was the worlds largest single lighted outdoor sports facility until being surpassed by Losail International Circuit in 2008.^{[citation needed]} Musco Lighting installed the lighting system, which took into account glare and visibility for aircraft arriving and departing nearby Daytona Beach International Airport, and costs about $240 per hour when in operation.^[3]

Layouts

Tri-Oval

See also: List of NASCAR race tracks

Map of the speedway

Daytona's tri-oval is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long with 31° banking in the turns and 18° banking at the start/finish line. The front straight is 3,800 feet (1,200 m) long and the back straight (or "superstretch") is 3,000 feet (910 m) long. The tri-oval shape, was revolutionary at the time as it greatly improved sight lines for fans. It is one of the two tracks on the Sprint Cup Series circuit that uses restrictor plates to slow the cars down due to the high speeds, the other being Talladega Superspeedway.^[4]

On July 15, 2010 repaving of the track began. The repaving came almost a year earlier than planned due to the track coming apart during the 2010 Daytona 500. The project used an estimated 50,000 tons of asphalt to repave 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 m²) including the racing surface, apron, skid pads and pit road. Because of good weather, the project was completed ahead of schedule.^[5]

Road courses

Map of the 24-hour road course configuration

The 3.56 miles (5.73 km) road course was built in 1962 to host a three-hour sports car race called the Daytona Continental. Eventually the race was extended to a 24-hour endurance race known as the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Start of the 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona

While the more famous 24 Hours of Le Mans is held near the summer solstice, Daytona's endurance race is held in winter (meaning that more of the race is run at night). The track's lighting system is limited to 20% of its maximum output for the race to keep cars dependent on their headlights.^[6]

Map of the Moto-Course

In 2005, a second infield road course configuration was constructed, primarily for motorcycles. Due to fears of tire wear on the banked oval sections, oval turns 1 and 2 were bypassed giving the new course a length of 2.95 miles (4.75 km).^[7] On September 26 and 27, 2006, the Indycar Series held a compatibility test on the 10-turn, 2.73-mile (4.39 km) modified road course, and the 12-turn 2.95-mile (4.75 km) motorcycle road course with 5 drivers. The drivers who tested at the track were Vitor Meira, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon. This marked the first time since 1984 that open wheel cars have taken to the track at Daytona.^[8] On January 31 – February 1, 2007, Indycar returned for a full test involving 17 cars.^[9]

Supercross

During Daytona Beach Bike Week, a supercross track is built between pit road and the tri-oval section of the track. Historically the track has used more sand than dirt, providing unique challenges to riders.^{[citation needed]} The 2008, 2009 and 2010 track configurations were designed by former champion, Ricky Carmichael.^[10]

Daytona Flat Track

Popular dirt-track races in karting and flat-track motorcycle racing had been held at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium, but in 2009, the city announced the stadium was replacing its entire surface with FieldTurf, and thereby eliminating the flat-track racing at the stadium. To continue racing, speedway officials built the Daytona Flat Track, a new quarter-mile dirt track outside of Turns 1 and 2 of the main superspeedway. It seats 5,000 in temporary grandstands and opened in December 2009 for WKA KartWeek.^[11]

Fatalities

Main article: List of Daytona International Speedway fatalities

A total of 27 people have been fatally injured in the track, with most during auto, motorcycle, and powerboat racing events. Arguably the most notable was Dale Earnhardt, who died February 18, 2001.^[12]

Fan amenities

Sprint Fanzone

The Sprint Fanzone is an access package similar to pit passes for fans to get closer to drivers and race teams. The fanzone was built in 2004 as part of a renovation of the track's infield.^[13] Fans are able to walk on top of the garages, known as the "fandeck", and view track and garage activity. Fans can also view race teams working in the garage, including NASCAR technical inspection, through windows. The garage windows also include slots for fans to hand merchandise to drivers for autographs. The fanzone also includes a live entertainment stage, additional food and drink areas and various other activities and displays.^[14]

The 2004 renovation of the infield, headed by design firm HNTB,^[15] was the first major renovation of the infield in the history of the track.^[16] In addition to the fanzone, a new vehicle and pedestrian tunnel was built under turn 1. The tunnel posed a challenge to engineers because it was be built under the water table. Another challenge came during construction when three named hurricanes passed by the track, flooding much of the excavation work. The infield renovation involved landscaping and hardscaping, such as a new walkway along the shore of Lake Lloyd, and the construction of 34 new buildings, including garages and fueling stations, offices and inspection facilities, and a club. The renovation project received a 2005 Award for Excellence from Design-Build Institute of America.^[16] Following the success of the Sprint Fanzone at Daytona, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway each built a similar infield fanzone.^{[citation needed]}

Budweiser Party Porch

The Budweiser Party Porch is a 46 feet (14 m) high porch located along the backstretch of the track. It is built on top of a portion of the backstretch grandstands and includes a 277 feet (84 m) wide, 33 feet (10 m) tall sign, the largest sign in motorsports.^{[citation needed]} The porch features tables, food and drinks, offering fans a "fun-filled" atmosphere that breaks fans away from the confines of grandstand seating without sacrificing on the view. Below the porch is an interactive fan zone featuring amusement rides, a go-kart track, show cars and merchandise trailers.^[17]

Events

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:^[18][19]

Races: Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400

Exhibition: Budweiser Shootout

Qualifying: Gatorade Duel

NASCAR Nationwide Series:^[18][19]

Camping World 300, Subway Jalapeno 250

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series:^[18]

NextEra Energy Resources 250

Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series:^[20]

Rolex 24 at Daytona

ARCA RE/MAX Series: Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200^[21]

AMA Daytona SportBike: Daytona 200^[19]

AMA Motocross: Daytona Supercross by Honda^[22]

Track Records

As of November 2010, track records on the 2.5 miles (4.0 km) tri-oval are as follows.^[23]

Record	Year	Date	Driver	Car Make	Time	Speed/Avg Speed
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Qualifying	1987	February 9	Bill Elliott	Ford	42.783	210.364 mph (338.548 km/h)
Race (500 miles)	1980	February 17	Buddy Baker	Oldsmobile	2:48:55	177.602 mph (285.823 km/h)
Race (400 miles)	1980	July 4	Bobby Allison	Oldsmobile	2:18:21	173.473 mph (279.178 km/h)
Race (250 miles)	1961	July 4	David Pearson	Pontiac	1:37:13	154.294 mph (248.312 km/h)
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Qualifying	1987		Tommy Houston	Buick	46.299	194.389 mph (312.839 km/h)
Race (300 miles)	1985	February 16	Geoff Bodine	Pontiac	1:54:33	157.137 mph (252.887 km/h)
Race (250 miles)	2003	July 4	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	1:37:35	153.715 mph (247.380 km/h)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Qualifying	2000	February 17	Joe Ruttman	Dodge	47.984	187.563 mph (301.853 km/h)
Race (250 miles)	2006	February 17	Mark Martin	Ford	1:42:18	146.622 mph (235.965 km/h)

Photos

• 

  Main Entrance at night

• 

  Cars practicing in 2004

• 

  Old Flagstand

• 

  Grandstand

• 

  Paul Revere 250 restart after a caution

• 

  View from the backstretch at night

• 

  Endurance kart race

• 

  Racetrack skidmarks and view of grandstand

• 

References

1. ^ Hawkins, Jim (2003). "Big Bill's Dream for America's Speed Capital". Tales from the Daytona 500 (illustrated ed.). Sports Publishing LLC. pp. 13–14 of 200. ISBN 1582615306, 9781582615301. http://books.google.com/books?id=UGbf0A2G10gC&pg=PA1&dq=1959+Daytona+500+qualify#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Aumann, Mark. "How Daytona International Speedway was created". Nascar.com. http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/02/04/daytona.500.dis.history/story_single.html. 
3. ^ "Daytona International Speedway". Musco Lighting. http://www.musco.com/projshow/project.php?id=138+motorsports. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
4. ^ "Track Facts". Daytonainternationalspeedway.com. http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/News/Track-Facts.aspx. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
5. ^ "Goodyear Tire Test on Daytona’s New Racing Surface Set For Dec. 15–16". Daytona International Speedway. November 20, 2010. http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/Articles/2010/11/Homestead-Miami-Update.aspx. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
6. ^ "Race Profile – 24 Hours of Daytona". Sports Car Digest. January 23, 2009. http://www.sportscardigest.com/race-profile-%E2%80%93-24-hours-of-daytona/. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
7. ^ Adams, Dean (August 12, 2004). "Daytona Changes Course". Superbikeplanet.com. http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2004/Aug/040811a.htm. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
8. ^ "IRL Begins Testing at Daytona Road Course". Daytona International Speedway. September 26, 2006. http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/Articles/2006/09/IRL-Begins-Testing-At-Daytona-Road-Course.aspx. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
9. ^ "IndyCar Series Kicks Off Two-Day Test At Daytona". Daytona International Speedway. January 31, 2007. http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/Articles/2007/01/Indycar-Series-Kicks-Off-Two-Day-Test-At-Daytona.aspx. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
10. ^ "Ricky Carmichael Designs Daytona Supercross By Honda Course For Second Straight Year". Daytona International Speedway. January 30, 2010. http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/Articles/2009/01/Ricky-Carmichael-To-Design-Daytona-Supercross-By-Honda-Course-For-Second-Straight-Year.aspx. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
11. ^ "AMA FLAT TRACK: DIS To Construct Dirt Track". Speed. July 31, 2009. http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ama-flat-track-dis-to-construct-dirt-track/. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
12. ^ "Auto racing fatalities list". Usatoday.Com. 2001-02-18. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/earnhardt/list.htm#daytona. Retrieved 2011-01-26. 
13. ^ Hembree, Mike (July 28, 2009). "NASCAR fans get in the 'zone' at Daytona International Speedway". Scene. http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/NASCAR_fans_get_in_the_zone_at_Daytona_International_Speedway.html. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
14. ^ "Sprint FANZONE". Daytona international Speedway. http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/Tickets-Events/Events/2011/Speedweeks-2011/Sprint-FANZONE.aspx. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
15. ^ "Daytona Speedway". HNTB. http://www.hntb.com/our-work/market/sports#/ajax/project/976. Retrieved 28 November 2010. 
16. ^ ^{a b} Engdahl, David. "Daytona International Speedway Renovation". American Institute of Architects. http://info.aia.org/nwsltr_db.cfm?pagename=db_a_200603_engdahl. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
17. ^ "Budweiser Party Porch Is The Place To Be On The Superstretch For The 52nd Annual Daytona 500". The Catchfence. February 9, 2010. http://www.catchfence.com/2010/sprintcup/02/09/budweiser-party-porch-is-the-place-to-be-on-the-superstretch-for-the-52nd-annual-daytona-500/. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
18. ^ ^{a b c} "Daytona International Speedway – travel – ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. 2011-01-14. http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=2346804. Retrieved 2011-01-25. 
19. ^ ^{a b c} "Events Calendar". Daytona International Speedway. http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/Tickets-Events/Event-Calendar.aspx. Retrieved 2011-01-25. 
20. ^ "2011 Rolex Series". Grand-am.com. http://www.grand-am.com/schedule/. Retrieved 2011-01-25. 
21. ^ "Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200". Daytona International Speedway. http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/Tickets-Events/Events/2011/Speedweeks-2011/Lucas-Oil-Slick-Mist-200.aspx. Retrieved 2011-01-25. 
22. ^ "Daytona Supercross by Honda". Daytona International Speedway. http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/Tickets-Events/Events/2011/Daytona-200-Week/Supercross.aspx. Retrieved 2011-03-06. 
23. ^ "Race Results at Daytona International Speedway". racing-reference.info. http://www.racing-reference.info/tracks/Daytona_International_Speedway. Retrieved November 22, 2010. 

External links

• Official Site
• Speedway Page on NASCAR.com
• Jayski's Daytona International Speedway Page
• Trackpedia guide to driving this track
• Satellite picture by Google Maps
• VisitingFan.com: Reviews of Daytona International Speedway

Coordinates: 29°11′8″N 81°4′10″W / 29.18556°N 81.06944°W / 29.18556; -81.06944