Daytona International Speedway facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Daytona International Speedway

Location	1801 West International Speedway Blvd, Daytona Beach, Florida 32114
Time zone	UTC−5 (UTC−4 DST)
Coordinates	29°11′8″N 81°4′10″W / 29.18556°N 81.06944°W / 29.18556; -81.06944
Capacity	101,500–167,785 (w/ infield, depending on configuration) 123,500 (grandstand capacity)
Owner	NASCAR (2019–present) International Speedway Corporation (1959–2019)
Operator	NASCAR (1959–present)
Broke ground	November 25, 1957; 67 years ago (1957-11-25)
Opened	February 22, 1959; 66 years ago (1959-02-22)
Construction cost	US$3 million
Architect	Charles Moneypenny William France, Sr.
Major events	Current: NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 (1959–present) Coke Zero Sugar 400 (1959–present) Bluegreen Vacations Duel (1959–present) Busch Clash (1979–2021) O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 (2020–2021) NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 300 (1982–present) Wawa 250 (2002–present) Super Start Batteries 188 (2020–2021) NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fresh From Florida 250 (2000–present) BrakeBest Select 159 (2020–2021) IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 at Daytona (1962–present) WeatherTech 240 (1967–1986, 2000, 2002–2009, 2020) ARCA Menards Series Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 (1964–present) AMA Daytona SportBike&MotoAmerica Daytona 200 (1961–2019, 2021–present) AMA Supercross Daytona Supercross by Honda Former: Trans-Am Series (1967–1968, 1984, 2013–2019) Grand-Am Daytona Finale (1972–1986, 1996, 2001–2003) Grand Prix motorcycle racing United States motorcycle Grand Prix (1961–1965) IROC (1974–1978, 1985–1989, 1991–2006) USAC Daytona 100 (1959)
NASCAR Tri-Oval (1959–present)
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.500 mi (4.023 km)
Turns	4
Banking	Turns: 31° Tri-oval: 18° Back straightaway: 3°
Race lap record	0:40.002 ( Jonathan Roscoe, Roush Yates Mazda Rx7 2.6L 4 Rotor, 2024, Sports Compact)
Sports Car Course (1985–present)
Surface	Asphalt
Length	3.560 mi (5.729 km)
Turns	12
Banking	Oval turns: 31° Tri-Oval: 18° Back straightaway: 2° Infield: 0° (flat)
Race lap record	1:33.724 ( Alex Palou, Cadillac DPi-V.R, 2022, DPi)
NASCAR Road Course (2020–2021)
Surface	Asphalt
Length	3.570 mi (5.745 km)
Turns	14
Banking	Oval turns: 31° Tri-Oval: 18° Back straightaway: 2° Infield: 0° (flat)
Race lap record	1:55.677 ( Chase Elliott, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, 2021, NASCAR Cup)
Motorcycle Course (2005–present)
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.950 mi (4.748 km)
Turns	12
Banking	Oval turns: 31° Tri-Oval: 18° Back straightaway: 2° Infield: 0° (flat)
Sports Car Course (1984)
Surface	Asphalt
Length	3.869 mi (6.228 km)
Race lap record	1:45.209 ( Derek Bell, Porsche 962, 1984, IMSA GTP)
Sports Car Course (1975–1983)
Surface	Asphalt
Length	3.840 mi (6.180 km)
Race lap record	1:45.360 ( Danny Ongais, Lola T600, 1982, IMSA GTP)
Sports Car Course (1959–1974)
Surface	Asphalt
Length	3.810 mi (6.132 km)
Turns	7
Race lap record	1:41.250 ( Mark Donohue, Ferrari 512 M, 1971, Group 5)
Dirt Flat Track
Surface	Dirt
Length	0.25 mi (0.40 km)
Turns	4
Banking	Flat
Short Oval
Surface	Asphalt
Length	0.40 mi (0.64 km)
Turns	4
Banking	Flat
Race lap record	0:20.129 (Nate Monteith, Monteith Racing, 2013, Whelen All-American Series)

Daytona International Speedway is a famous race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It's about 50 miles (80 km) north of Orlando. Since it opened in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500. This is the most important race in NASCAR and kicks off their racing season.

The track also hosts the 24 Hours of Daytona, a top IMSA race. This event is part of the "Triple Crown of endurance racing." Besides NASCAR and IMSA, Daytona hosts races for ARCA, AMA Superbike, SCCA, and AMA Supercross.

The speedway has several layouts. These include a 2.5-mile (4.023 km) high-speed tri-oval, a 3.56-mile (5.729 km) sports car course, and a 2.95-mile (4.748 km) motorcycle course. There's also a 1,320-foot (402 m) karting and motorcycle flat-track. Inside the track, there's a 180-acre (73 ha) area with a 29-acre (12 ha) lake called Lake Lloyd. This lake has even hosted powerboat races!

NASCAR founder William "Bill" France Sr. built the track in 1959. He wanted a better place for racing than the old Daytona Beach Road Course. His design used high banks, which allowed cars to go faster and gave fans a better view. NASCAR now runs the speedway, leasing the land from Daytona Beach until 2054. The track proudly calls itself the "World Center of Racing."

In 1998, lights were added around the track. This made it the third-largest single-lit outdoor sports facility at the time. The speedway has been updated several times. Major renovations happened between 2013 and 2016. This "Daytona Rising" project cost $400 million. It focused on making the fan experience much better. They added new entrances, wider seats, and more restrooms and food stands. After these changes, the grandstands could seat 101,500 people.

Track History

Building the Speedway

NASCAR founder William France Sr. started planning the track in 1953. He wanted a special place to help his racing series grow. France worked with engineer Charles Moneypenny to design the speedway. He wanted the track to have very high banks. This would let cars go super fast and give fans a great view.

Moneypenny visited the Ford Proving Grounds in Michigan. They had a high-speed test track with banked corners. Ford shared their engineering plans, showing how to build the banked turns. France then took these plans to the Daytona Beach city leaders. They liked the idea and created the Daytona Beach Speedway Authority.

The tri-oval after the 2010–2011 repaving

The city agreed to lease 447 acres (181 ha) of land near the Daytona Beach Municipal Airport to France's company. The cost was $10,000 a year for 50 years. France then looked for money to build the track. He got help from a Texas oil millionaire, Clint Murchison, Sr.. Murchison loaned France $600,000 and provided construction equipment. France also got money from Pepsi-Cola, General Motors designer Harley Earl, and by selling stock shares. Construction on the 2.5-mile (4.023 km) speedway began on November 25, 1957.

To create the high banks, workers dug out over a million cubic yards of soil from the track's middle area. Because the ground water was high, the huge hole filled with water. This formed what is now known as Lake Lloyd. It was named after Joseph "Sax" Lloyd, one of the original speedway planners. The lake was even stocked with fish, and France arranged speedboat races there.

Workers brought in 22 tons of lime mortar to create the track's strong base. Then, asphalt was laid on top. Building the steep banks was tricky. Moneypenny invented a special way to pave the incline. He connected the paving machines to bulldozers at the top of the banking. This kept the equipment from sliding down. Moneypenny later patented his method. He also designed other famous tracks like Talladega Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway.

By December 1958, France was running out of money. He relied on selling race tickets to finish building. He also got a lot of money from the Pepsi company. Interestingly, he had first asked Coca-Cola for money, but they said no. For many years after the track opened, France never allowed Coca-Cola to be sold at his tracks.

The tri-oval during the 2015 Daytona 500 with nearly completed grandstand in the background.

The first practice run on the new track was on February 6, 1959. On February 22, 1959, 42,000 people came to the first-ever Daytona 500. The finish was very exciting: Lee Petty barely beat Johnny Beauchamp in a photo finish. It took three days to decide who won! When it opened, Daytona was the fastest track for stock car races. This lasted until Talladega Superspeedway opened ten years later.

On April 4, 1959, Daytona hosted a 100-mile (160 km) Champ Car event. Jim Rathmann won, with an average speed of 170.26 mph (274.01 km/h). This was the fastest motor race ever at that time. Sadly, it was also the first time someone died at Daytona. George Amick crashed and was killed while trying to pass for third place.

Lights were added around the track in 1998. This allowed NASCAR's July race, the Coke Zero 400, to be run at night. Daytona was the world's largest single lighted outdoor sports facility until 2008.

Track Layouts

The Tri-oval Track

Map of the speedway

Daytona's main tri-oval track is 2.5 miles (4.023 km) long. The turns are banked at a steep 31 degrees. The start/finish line area is banked at 18 degrees. The front straightaway is 3,800 feet (1,158 m) long. The back straightaway, also called the "superstretch," is 3,000 feet (914 m) long.

The tri-oval shape was a new idea when it was built. It made it much easier for fans to see the cars all around the track. Daytona is one of three tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit where cars race very close together, using "drafting" to gain speed. The others are Talladega Superspeedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

On July 15, 2010, the track began to be repaved. This happened earlier than planned because the track surface started to break apart during the 2010 Daytona 500. The project used about 50,000 tons of asphalt. This covered the racing surface, apron, skid pads, and pit road. Good weather helped them finish the project ahead of time.

On October 9, 2013, Colin Braun set a new single-lap record on the tri-oval. He drove a Daytona Prototype car at 222.971 mph (358.837 km/h). During NASCAR races, cars complete a lap in less than a minute.

Road Course Layouts

Map of the 24-hour road course configuration

Start of the 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona

While the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race happens in summer, Daytona's endurance race is in winter. This means more of the race is run at night. The track's lighting system is kept at 20% power for this race. This makes cars rely on their headlights, adding to the challenge.

The 3.81-mile (6.132 km) road course was built in 1959. It first hosted a three-hour sports car race called the Daytona Continental in 1962. In 1966, this race became the 24-hour endurance race known as the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Over the years, the road course has been changed several times. In 1973, a sharp chicane (a series of tight turns) was added at the end of the backstretch. In 1984 and 1985, more changes were made. The "International Horseshoe" turn was moved, and the backstretch chicane was updated. This made the full road course 3.56 miles (5.729 km) long.

In 2003, the backstretch chicane was changed again. This allowed cars to enter oval turn three more smoothly. In 2010, part of the old chicane was removed for good.

Map of the Moto-Course

In 2005, a second road course was built inside the track. This one is mainly for motorcycles. To protect tires on the banked oval, turns 1 and 2 of the oval are skipped. This new course is 2.95 miles (4.748 km) long.

On July 8, 2020, NASCAR announced that its national series would race on the Daytona road course. This was due to health rules during the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented racing at other tracks. On July 30, a new chicane was added near the exit of Oval Turn Four. This made the NASCAR road course 3.57 miles (5.745 km) long.

On January 21, 2024, Pipo Derani set the fastest lap ever on the modern Daytona road course. He drove a Cadillac V-Series.R in 1:32.656 during qualifying for the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona.

Supercross Track

During Daytona Beach Bike Week, a special supercross track is built. It's located between the pit road and the tri-oval section. This track uses more sand than dirt, which makes it a unique challenge for riders. Former champion Ricky Carmichael designed the track from 2008 to 2013. Daytona has hosted an AMA Supercross Championship race every year since 1971.

Dirt Flat Track and Kart Track

Popular dirt-track races for karting and motorcycles used to be held at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium. But in 2009, the stadium changed its surface, so those races moved. Speedway officials built the Daytona Flat Track, a new quarter-mile dirt track. It's located outside turns 1 and 2 of the main superspeedway. It opened in December 2009 for WKA KartWeek.

There's also a short paved track for karts and autocross inside the track, near turn 3. The SCCA holds autocross events here, along with sprint karting races during KartWeek.

Paved Short Track

In February 2012, a 0.400-mile (0.644 km) paved short track was built along the backstretch. This was for NASCAR's lower-tier series to race during Speedweeks. The first races on this track were held in February 2013. The track was shortened to a 0.375-mile (0.604 km) oval in 2014. However, the future of racing on this short track became unclear after 2015. This was because the grandstands on the back straightaway were removed as part of the Daytona Rising project.

Other Events

Football Games

In the fall of 1959, the track hosted several high school football games. These were for the Father Lopez Green Wave team. The track also hosted four college football games for the Daytona-based Bethune–Cookman Wildcats in 1974 and 1975.

Soccer Matches

On July 2 and 3, 2022, Daytona hosted the Daytona Soccer Fest. This two-day event included a friendly match between rival Colombian teams América de Cali and Deportivo Cali. It also featured a NWSL regular season match between the Orlando Pride and Racing Louisville FC.

Video Games

In 1994, Sega released an arcade game called Daytona USA. It was one of the first games to feature a detailed 3D model of the circuit. The game's music included vocals by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi. Daytona USA is seen as one of the most successful and important racing games ever. It led to many sequels for arcades and home consoles. The newest version, Daytona Championship USA, came out in 2017.

iRacing.com has scanned the track twice using lasers. Once in 2008, and again in 2011 after the repaving. Both versions are available for official online races.

The oval and Rolex 24 Hour layouts are in the PlayStation 3 games Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo 6. They are also in the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game Gran Turismo 7. Daytona International Speedway is also in Forza Motorsport 6 and Forza Motorsport 7 for Xbox One and Windows 10.

Real Racing 3 also features Daytona International Speedway. It includes the oval, Rolex 24 Hour, and Daytona 200 layouts.

Fan Amenities

Hard Rock Bet Fanzone

The Hard Rock Bet Fanzone lets fans get closer to the drivers and race teams. It's like having special pit passes. The fanzone was built in 2004 as part of a renovation of the track's infield. Fans can walk on top of the garages, called the "fandeck." From there, they can watch the track and garage activities.

Fans can also see race teams working in the garages through windows. These windows even have slots for fans to hand items to drivers for autographs. The fanzone also has a stage for live entertainment, places to buy food and drinks, and other fun activities.

The 2004 renovation of the infield was the first big update to this area. Besides the fanzone, a new tunnel was built under turn 1 for vehicles and people. Building this tunnel was hard because it was below the water level. Also, three hurricanes passed by during construction, flooding the digging areas. The infield renovation included new landscaping, walkways, and 34 new buildings. These buildings included garages, fueling stations, offices, and a club.

The University of Northwestern Ohio bought the naming rights to the fanzone in 2016, calling it the 'UNOH Fanzone'. On January 25, 2024, Hard Rock Cafe bought the naming rights. It is now called the 'Hard Rock Bet Fanzone' after their sports betting service.

Events

Current Events

2.5-mile Superspeedway Races

The start of the 2015 Daytona 500

The 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400

• NASCAR Cup Series
  • Points races: Daytona 500, Coke Zero Sugar 400
  • Qualifying races: Bluegreen Vacations Duel
• NASCAR Xfinity Series
  • United Rentals 300
  • Wawa 250
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
  • NextEra Energy 250
• ARCA Menards Series
  • Hard Rock Bet 200

Road Course Races

• WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (formerly Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series)
  • Rolex 24 at Daytona
• IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
  • BMW Performance 200
• Historic Sports Car Racing
  • Classic 24 Hours at Daytona
• WKA Vega Road Racing Series driven by Mazda
  • Daytona Kart Week
• ChampCar Endurance Series
  • The 14-Hours of Daytona Beach
• WRL
  • Concorso Daytona 14 Hours
• MotoAmerica (from 2022)
  • Daytona 200

Other Events

• Monster Energy AMA Supercross
  • Daytona Supercross by Honda
• Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross
• AMA Pro Flat Track Racing
  • Daytona Flat Track
• WKA Mazda/Bridgestone Manufacturers Cup Series
  • Daytona Kart Week
• WKA Speedway Dirt
  • Daytona Dirt World Championships
• Daytona Beach Half Marathon
• Welcome to Rockville

Former Events

• AMA Daytona SportBike
  • Daytona 200
• Brumos Porsche 250 (race ran by several series & sanctioning bodies)
• Grand Prix motorcycle racing
  • United States motorcycle Grand Prix (1961–1965)
• IROC
  • Superspeedway (1975–1978, 1985–1989, 1991–2006)
  • Road Course (1974, 2006)
• ISCARS Dash Touring Series (formerly NASCAR Goody's Dash Series & IPOWER Dash)
  • IPOWER Dash 150 (1979–2004)
  • DaytonaUSA.com 150 (2001)
• LATAM Challenge Series (2014)
• NASCAR Convertible Division
  • Can-Am Duels (race now used for the NASCAR Cup Series) (1959)
• USAC Championship Car
• NASCAR Cup Series
  • O'Reilly Auto Parts 253
• NASCAR Xfinity Series
  • Super Start Batteries 188
• NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
  • BrakeBest Select 159
• ARCA Menards Series
  • General Tire 100
  • Daytona 100 (1959)
• NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
  • UNOH Battle at the Beach on backstretch oval (.375 miles)
• NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour & Whelen Southern Modified Tour
  • UNOH Battle at the Beach on backstretch oval
• Trans-Am Series
  • Trans-Am Finale (1967–1968, 1984, 2013–2019)

Track Records

As of January 2023, here are some track records on the 2.5-mile (4.023 km) tri-oval.

As of March 2024, here are the fastest official race lap records on the road course layouts:

Weather and Climate

Daytona Beach has a humid subtropical climate. This means it's warm and humid, allowing the track to be used all year. Light frosts are rare, even during the 24-hour race at night. Generally, winter racing conditions are mild.

The winter months are usually dry, so the Daytona 500 often runs without rain delays. However, summer events, like the night races, are more likely to have rain. This is because summers are hot, muggy, and humid with more rain. Because of these big seasonal differences, the two NASCAR Cup races at Daytona have very different track conditions.

Images for kids

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  Main Entrance at night (prior to renovation)

• 

  Cars practicing in 2004

• 

  Old Flagstand

• 

  Grandstand (prior to renovation)

• 

  Paul Revere 250 restart after a caution

• 

  View from the former backstretch grandstands at night

• 

  Endurance kart race

• 

  Racetrack skidmarks and view of old grandstand

• 
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  View of Lake Lloyd

• 

  Infield garages

• 

  Infield view from President's Row

• 

  View of Victory Lane from a skybox

• 

  Statue of Dale Earnhardt Sr. holding his winner's trophy

• 

  Rolex Clock at the garage

• 

  Aerial view

See also

In Spanish: Daytona International Speedway para niños

• 944 Cup
• List of Daytona International Speedway fatalities
• Daytona 500 Experience
• Motorsports Hall of Fame of America