Daytona Beach Road Course
| The Beach | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | Daytona Beach, Ponce Inlet, Daytona Beach Shores, Florida |
| Owner | Public |
| Operator | closed |
| Opened | 1902 |
| Closed | February 23, 1958 |
| Major events | No Major Events |
| Road Course | |
| Length | 3.1 to 4.2 mi (5.0 to 6.7 km) |
The Daytona Beach Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of the , or NASCAR. It originally became famous as the location where fifteen world land speed records were set.
The course started on the pavement of highway A1A (at 4511 South Atlantic Avenue, Ponce Inlet 29°06′32″N 80°56′37″W / 29.108890°N 80.943669°W). A restaurant named "Racing's North Turn" now stands at that location. It went south two miles (3.2 km) parallel to the ocean on A1A (S. Atlantic Ave) to the end of the road, where the drivers accessed the beach at the south turn at the Beach Street approach 29°05′05″N 80°55′32″W / 29.084705°N 80.925566°W, returned two miles (3.2 km) north on the sandy beach surface, and returned to A1A at the north turn. The lap length in early events was 3.2 miles (5.1 km), and it was lengthened to 4.2 miles (6.8 km) in the late 1940s. In the video game NASCAR Thunder 2004 by EA Sports, the course is shortened to about half its distance, but still shows how the basic course was set up.
March 29, 1927 Major Henry Segrave and his Sunbeam 1000 hp Mystery set a world land speed record on the Daytona Beach Road Course, at 203.79 mph (327.97 km/h), peaking at a top speed of 211 mph.
Washington D.C. resident William France Sr. was familiar with the history of Daytona. He moved there in 1935 to escape the Great Depression and he set up a car repair shop.
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Wikipedia