Daytona Beach Road Course

Daytona Beach Road Course
The Beach

Daytona Beach , Florida , USA
Route type:	temporary racetrack
Owner:	public
Opening:	circa 1902
Decommissioned:	February 23, 1958
Track layout
Route data
Important events:	Predecessor of the NASCAR series
Route length:	6.76  km (4.2  mi )

Coordinates: 29 ° 5 ′ 4.9 ″  N , 80 ° 55 ′ 32 ″  W.

The Daytona Beach Road Course in Daytona Beach , Florida was a racetrack and is considered the birthplace of NASCAR . It was originally known for having set 15 world speed records on it.

Speed ​​records

Start of the race in 1922

Demolished Stanley "Rocket" steamer by Fred Marriott (1907)

Daytona Beach's wide beach, with its soft sand and low tide , has been open to drivers and racing drivers for years. It was used to test high speed and racing motorcycles, as well as the newfangled "horseless carriages". The beach has therefore developed into a Mecca for motorsport enthusiasts. The fans watched the events up close from the grass-covered dunes.

For example, John D. Rockefeller spent the winter in Ormond Beach . Other rich playboys also came to Ormond Beach to spend time on the beaches with the elite and show off their sports cars.

The first timed run on the beach was a solo run by ransomware Eli Olds . In 1902, the wealthy automobile pioneer Olds, founder of Oldsmobile and the Reo Motor Car Company, and Alexander Winton of the Winton Motor Carriage Company held an unofficial race on the adjacent Ormond Beach . Winton beat Olds by a margin of 0.2 seconds. The first organized race was held and timed by the American Automobile Association in 1903. This "Winter Carnival" was organized by the Ormond Hotel. The top speed was 68.198 mph .

The beach part of the racetrack also became known as the first port of call for setting speed records. The corresponding association built a clubhouse a few meters behind the border with Daytona Beach in 1905 so that the newspapers published Daytona Beach as the location of the racing events. At least 13 organized races took place between 1905 and 1935, so Daytona Beach quickly became synonymous with speed.

Fifteen world speed records were set between January 24, 1905 and March 7, 1935. The drivers who set new records here included Arthur MacDonald , Ralph DePalma , Henry Segrave , Ray Keech and Malcolm Campbell , who set the latest record at 276.82 mph. In 1906, for example, Fred Marriott set a new speed record with his steam-powered Stanley Steamer at 205.5 km / h. At the same time, he was the first person to reach speeds of over 200 km / h in a car. While trying to beat his own record in 1907, he suffered a serious accident in which his Stanley "Rocket" steamer broke in two. His 1906 record for steam-powered automobiles wasn't broken until 103 years later.

Starting in 1935, drivers used the more consistent surface of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah . Daytona's 500-foot (150 m) wide beach became too narrow for even higher speeds.

Fatalities

Frank Lockhart won the Indianapolis 500 in his first race on a paved circuit in 1926 . Lockhart regularly set records on the routes he raced. So he decided to set a new world speed record. He set a new record of 174 mph on a 1.49 liter (91 in³) engine on the Muroc Dry Lakes . He then decided to use both 1.49 liter engines to set a new record in the 2-3 liter class. On February 19, 1928, he drove faster than 200 mph for the first time, but the clutch failed in the attempt to set the record. On April 25, 1928, he broke the existing record without any problems and reached 198.29 mph. On the way back, a tire burst when he drove over a sharp object, and his Stutz- sponsored "Black Hawk Special" overturned, with Lockhart overturning Life came.

On March 11, 1929, Henry Segrave set a new world speed record of 231.44 mph and broke Ray Keech's previous record , which he had set in the Triplex in 1928. JM White, the owner of the Triplex, and Keech were both present. White tried to convince Keech to try to get the record back, but Keech refused. White then found Lee Bible from Daytona, who agreed to try a new record attempt in the triplex. Bible did a few training runs and then started trying. On his second try, a problem arose where the 1500hp triplex broke out. He fell over and killed Bible. Then the triplex also flew into cameraman Charles Traub, who was dead on the spot.

Beach & street course

Route configuration

The route began at the north curve on the paved A1A Highway at 4511 South Atlantic Avenue. The restaurant “Racing's North Turn” now stands at this point. From there it was two miles south on the A1A parallel to the Atlantic before the drivers turned onto the beach on Beach Street. Then it went two miles north over the beach to the north curve. The route was 3.2 miles in length in its early years before being extended to 4.2 miles in the late 1940s.

Early events

Restaurant on the former place of the north curve

Highway A1A southbound. It was the paved part of the racetrack.

Bill France senior from Washington, DC was known the story of Daytona, when he moved there in 1935 to the Great Depression to escape. When he arrived in Daytona, he opened a workshop.

Daytona Beach representatives asked local racing driver Sig Haugdahl to organize and promote an automobile race on the 3.2 mile circuit in 1936 . Haugdahl himself is credited with designing the track, while the city received $ 5,000 in prize money  . When the ticket tears arrived at the track, thousands of fans were already on the track. During the race, the sandy corners became practically impassable, which led to numerous errors in the evaluation of the race and protests. After 75 of 78, the race was stopped. Milt Marion was declared a winner by the American Automobile Association. Runner-up Ben Shaw and third-place Tommy Elmore protested the result, but their protest was dismissed. France finished fifth in that race. The city lost around $ 22,000 and has not sponsored a race since.

Haugdahl spoke to France, and both chatted with the Daytona Beach Elks Club to hold another race in 1937. This race was more successful, but still a losing business. Haugdahl then held no more races. France then took control of the circuit in 1938 and hosted two races. In July, Danny Murphy won ahead of France and on Labor Day , France won with Llody Moody and Pig Ridings.

There were three races each in 1939 and 1940. In 1941 there were two races. During the planning for 1942, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor . Since France worked at the Daytona Beach shipyard during World War II , the races were suspended until after the war. The first race at Daytona took place again in 1946.

NASCAR founded

France was aware of the fact that race organizers had to organize. In many cases, racers were cheated by unscrupulous organizers who disappeared with the prize money before the end of the race. On December 14, 1947, France began talks in the Ebony Bar in the Streamline Hotel in Daytona, which would ultimately end in the formation of NASCAR on February 21, 1948. The Daytona Beach Road Course hosted the inaugural race of the new racing series before Darlington Speedway was completed in 1950.

NASCAR race results

The beach in May 2006

1949

The first race in the Strictly Stock series was held at Charlotte Speedway in 1949 before the series hit Daytona Beach. A total of 28 cars took to the start, including drivers such as Curtis Turner , Buck Baker , Fonty Flock , Marshall Teague , Herb Thomas and Tim Flock . The winner was Red Byron , who won his fourth race in Daytona in the 1940s. Byron later also won the championship in his 1949 Oldsmobile.

1950

After the series was renamed the Grand National Series, Harold Kite won the race in a 1949 Lincoln . He took the lead on lap 25 when Red Byron had to pit with transmission problems. Kite then led the rest of the race to the finish. Byron was able to improve from seventh to second place.

1951

The 1951 race was won by Marshall Teague in his 1951 Fabulous Hudson Hornet . This was the first victory of his career. He beat Tim Flock by a minute and 14 seconds.

1952

In 1952, Marshall Teague also won his Hudson. He took the lead in the second round. The race itself was shortened by two laps due to a spring tide . Teague won by a minute and 21 seconds over Herb Thomas. Joie Ray became the first African-American to compete in a NASCAR Grand National race.

1953

Bob Pronger, who started from pole position, and Fonty Flock, who started from second place, had a bet on who would lead the first lap. Both drove wildly and aggressively towards the north curve. Pronger turned too quickly into the curve and wrecked his car. Flock then led the field by more than a minute until he ran out of gas immediately after the start of the last lap. Flock's teammate pushed the car into the pits while Bill Blair won the race in an Oldsmobile. Flock finished second, 26 seconds back.

In the Modified / Sportsman class race, a total of 136 cars started. This was the largest field of drivers that has ever started in a NASCAR race.

1954

Tim Flock was the first to finish the 1954 race, but was then disqualified due to minor technical inconsistencies. Lee Petty , who finished second ahead of Buck Baker, was named the winner of the race. In this race, Flock was the first driver to communicate with his crew via radio.

1955

The race in 1955 was won by Fireball Roberts . However, he was later disqualified, so that Tim Flock was awarded the victory. Roberts was disqualified after NASCAR's technical director discovered that the valve train bumpers were 0.016 inches (0.4 mm) too long. A Chrysler C-300 set the speed record at 205 km / h.

1956

Tim Flock won his second race in a row at Daytona from pole position in a Chrysler . The car was owned by NASCAR legend Carl Kiekhaefer . Flock led all laps except for the four after his pit stop.

1957

Cotton Owens drove from third on the grid to the top on the first lap. After 40 of the total of 160 miles racing distance, Paul Goldsmith briefly took the lead. After Owens pitted after 94 miles, the lead again went to Goldsmith. Thanks to a quicker pit stop, Goldsmith stayed in the lead of the race until he had to retire with a broken piston 36 miles to go. Owen then led the race to the finish and took the first victory of his career. The win was the first for Pontiac and, at 101.541 mph, the first NASCAR race with an average speed of over 100 mph.

1958

In 1958 Paul Goldsmith started from pole position to win the last race on the track. He drove a Pontiac prepared by Smokey Yunick. Curtis Turner finished second, Jack Smith third, and Joe Weatherly fourth. Lee Petty, Buck Baker, Fireball Roberts and Cotton Owens finished the race in the top 10.

End of the racetrack

As early as 1953, France recognized that a new, permanent race track was needed to accommodate the large number of spectators for the races. New hotels were also built everywhere in the area of ​​the beach. On April 4, 1953, France made the proposal to build a new super speedway , the Daytona International Speedway . France began building the 2.5 mile long super speedway in 1956, on which the respective opening race of the season, the Daytona 500 , was to be held. After the last race on the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1958, the first Daytona 500 took place in 1959 on the Daytona International Speedway.

Web links

Commons : Daytona Beach Road Course  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• History of the world speed records on Daytona Beach

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Steam engine record: The fastest tea kettle in the world . In: Spiegel Online, August 26, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
2. ↑ Tim Sutton: The Incredible Drive of Frank Lockhart , Internet portal "drivingline.com" (accessed December 7, 2013)
3. ↑ Ed Hinten: Daytona: From the Birth of Speed ​​to the Death of the Man in Black . Warner Books, 2001. ISBN 0-446-52677-0 .
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Bill Fleischan, Al Pearce: The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 1998-99 , 1999.