Home is where the beach is: The history of the Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE) — The old saying goes “Home is where the heart is.” Well for NASCAR, home is where the beach is. Daytona Beach, that is.
The deep history of the sport traces back to the early 20th century in Daytona Beach, Florida. But, before we had the grandstands of over 100,000 and Lake Lloyd, the competition came in the sand.
Pretty humble beginnings for a sport that is beloved by many. By the mid-1930s, Daytona Beach and stock car racing became inseparable. Two decades later, with NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. leading the way, Daytona International Speedway was born.
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Over the past 65 years at Daytona, we’ve seen fists fly and fantastic finishes which have made the season-opening race NASCAR’s proverbial Super Bowl each February.
Even with all the great memories at Daytona, the track is the site of one of NASCAR’s darkest days. 23 years to the day of this year’s Great American Race is when the sport lost one of its greats – Dale Earnhardt Sr. – who passed away after a crash on the final lap.
“This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements that I’ve ever personally had to make,” said NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton on February 18th, 2001. “But after the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we’ve lost Dale Earnhardt.”
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After that tragedy, NASCAR installed head and neck restraints in cars and soft wall barriers with foam at tracks like Daytona. These improvements helped save drivers in accidents like Ryan Newman’s in the 2020 Daytona 500.
Daytona has seen plenty of evolving of its own – having been repaved once and renovated twice over the past 15 years to improve both racing and the fan experience.
The World Center of Racing is home to one of the biggest spectacles in all of sports which kicks off each NASCAR season in February.
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