Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway
The World Center of Racing

Address: 1801 West International Speedway Blvd Daytona Beach Florida 32114
Daytona Beach , Florida , USA
Route type:	permanent race track
Owner:	International Speedway Corporation
Operator:	International Speedway Corporation
Architect:	Charles Moneypenny Bill France Sr.
Building-costs:	3 million US dollars
Start of building:	November 25, 1957
Opening:	February 22, 1959
Speedway oval
Tri-oval
Route data
Important events:	Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola Advance Auto Parts Clash Can-Am Duel NASCAR Xfinity Series PowerShares QQQ 300 Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250 Grand-Am 24 Hours of Daytona AMA Daytona 200 ARCA Racing Series Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire
Route length:	4,000  km (2.49  mi )
Curves:	3
Curve superelevation:	Curves: 31 ° tri-oval: 18 ° straight lines: 2 °
Audience capacity:	101,500
combined street course
Route data
Route length:	5.73  km (3.56  mi )
http://www.daytonaintlspeedway.com

Coordinates: 29 ° 11 ′ 5.8 "  N , 81 ° 4 ′ 5.4"  W.

The Daytona International Speedway is an auto and motorcycle racing circuit in Daytona Beach , Florida . On the site of the Superspeedway there is a tri-oval course with three elevated curves with a length of 2.5  miles (4 km) and a street course in the interior of the oval with 5.7 km. There is space for around 101,500 spectators along the route.

history

Since smugglers in the southern states of the USA repeatedly fought chases with the law enforcement officers due to the ban on alcohol in the 1940s and 1950s, the first car races took place there. The prerequisites for this were few: a car was a must at the time, as there was no public transport and gasoline prices were low. After the first races of the newly founded NASCAR since 1948 on the Daytona Beach Road Course attracted more and more spectators, in 1953 Bill France senior , the founder of NASCAR, decided to build a permanent race track in Daytona Beach . On August 16, 1954, the contract was signed with the city officials and on November 25, 1957 the groundbreaking ceremony took place. On February 22, 1959, the opening race took place in front of 41,000 spectators. The construction cost of the 167,785 passenger raceway was $ 3 million.

In 2013, the $ 400 million Daytona Rising project was announced. The grandstands on the back straight were demolished and the main grandstand redesigned. The construction work was completed in early 2016.

IndyCar Series

On 26 and 27 September 2006 held Vítor Meira , Indianapolis 500 champion Sam Hornish Jr. , Tony Kanaan , Scott Dixon and Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion from 2005 , Dan Wheldon , for the first time since 1959 a training on the Speedway from.

On January 31st and February 1st, the IndyCar Series returned to Daytona for a 17-car test. The Indy Car Series considered racing at International Speedway in the 2008 season , but decided against it.

Racing series

The Daytona 500 , the most important race in the NASCAR series over 200 laps or 500 miles (805 km), has been held on the speedway since the opening year. 2007 were u. a. Races of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series , NASCAR Xfinity Series , NASCAR Camping World Truck Series , IROC and Grand-Am with the 24 Hours of Daytona . The Daytona 200 is driven on superbikes . Thanks to a floodlight system that was installed in 1998, races can also take place at night.

Records

Jimmie Johnson leads the 2008 Daytona 500

record	year	date	driver	Manufacturer	time	Average speed ( mph )	Average speed ( km / h )
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Qualifying	1987	February 9	Bill Elliott	ford	42.783	210.364	338,548
Race (500 miles)	1980	February 17th	Buddy Baker	Oldsmobile	2:48:55	177,602	285,823
Race (400 miles)	1980	July 4th	Bobby Allison	Oldsmobile	2:18:21	173.473	279.178
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Qualifying	1987		Tommy Houston	Buick	46.299	194,389	312,839
Race (300 miles)	1985	February 16	Geoff Bodine	Pontiac	1:54:33	157.137	252.887
Race (250 miles)	2003	July 4th	Dale Earnhardt junior	Chevrolet	1:37:35	153.715	247,380
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Qualifying	2000		Joe Ruttman	Dodge	47.984	187,563	301.853
Race (250 miles)	2006	February 17th	Mark Martin	ford	1:42:18	146.622	235.965

Fatal accidents

Restart of the Paul Revere 250

More than 30 racing drivers have lost their lives on the most important race track in the Cup Series since it opened. Probably the most famous accident was that of racing icon Dale Earnhardt , when he was involved in a crash at the end of the last lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001 and lost his life in the process.

All fatal accidents sorted by year of accident:

• Marshall Teague (test drive in preparation for a new speed record in a reconfigured IndyCar), February 11, 1959
• George Amick (USAC 100 Mile Race), April 4th 1959
• Bernie Taylor (powerboat racing on the lake in the infield), June 14, 1959
• Harold Haberling (NASCAR training), February 21, 1964
• Billy Drew Wade (NASCAR Grand National tire test) January 5, 1965
• Don MacTavish (Permatex 300 Sportsman Race), February 21, 1969
• Wayne Harris Bartz (lightweight motorcycle racing), March 12, 1969
• Talmadge "Tab" Prince (Daytona 500 qualifying race), February 19, 1970
• Joe "Rusty" Bradley (Daytona 200 motorcycle race), March 14, 1971
• David Pearl (Paul Whiteman Trophy Race), July 30, 1971
• Friday Hassler (Daytona 500 qualifying race), February 17, 1972
• Ricky Knotts (Daytona 500 qualifying race), February 14, 1980
• Francis Affleck (ARCA training), February 7, 1985
• Charles Ogle (touring car training), accident on December 15, 1985, died on December 26, 1985
• Bruce Jacobi (Daytona 500 qualifying race), crashed in February 1983, died on February 4, 1987
• Joe Young (Charlotte Daytona Dash Race), February 13, 1987
• James Kolman (kart test), December 27, 1987
• Randy Glenn (motorcycle test), February 26, 1988
• Don Williams (Sportsman 300-Races), in an accident February 1979, died on May 21, 1989
• Dale Robertson (Daytona Kart Week racing), December 27th 1989
• Julius Johnson (ARCA 200 race), in an accident on February 11, 1990, died on February 14, 1990
• Joe Booher (Florida 200 Dash Race) February 12, 1993
• James Adamo (Daytona 200), March 7, 1993
• Neil Bonnett (Daytona 500 qualifying practice), February 11, 1994
• Rodney Orr (Daytona 500 qualifying practice), February 14, 1994
• Michael Himes (IMSA Showroom Stock Sports Car Race), January 31, 1997
• Roger Reiman (motorcycle training for "Racing Legends"), March 4, 1997
• Dale Earnhardt (Daytona 500), February 18, 2001
• Dirk Piz (Daytona 200), March 11, 2001
• Stuart Stratton (Fall Cycle Scene motorcycle racing) October 19, 2001
• Michael Davis Jr. (Daytona Kart Week racing) December 30, 2001
• Roy H. Weaver III (Track Clerk, run over by Ray Paprota during the IPOWER Dash Series 150), February 8, 2004
• Bryan Cassell (Motorcycle Training, CCS / FUSA Fall Cycle Scene), October 18, 2005

Accidents with injured spectators

A mass accident in 2013 in the Nationwide Series race , the DRIVEFORCOPD 300 , injured 28 spectators after Kyle Larson's car climbed up and was badly damaged in the safety fence. Flying debris (one wheel flew up to the 40th row of the grandstand) was responsible for the injuries. The engine block also broke through the barriers.

See also

• List of motorsport racetracks

swell

1. ↑ DAYTONA Rising - Daytona International Speedway. In: www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com. Retrieved November 7, 2016 . 

Web links

Commons : Daytona International Speedway  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website (English).
• Daytona International Speedway on nascar.com (Engl.)