Daytona International Speedway

Lore & Background

The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. to host racing that was held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. The speedway is operated by NASCAR pursuant to a lease with the City of Daytona Beach on the property that runs until 2054. The venue describes itself as the 'World Center of Racing'.

Lights were installed around the track in 1998, and today it is the third-largest single-lit outdoor sports facility. The speedway has been renovated four times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010. On January 22, 2013, the fourth speedway renovation was unveiled. On July 5, 2013, ground was broken on 'Daytona Rising' to remove backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating.

The renovation was by design-builder Barton Malow Company in partnership with Rossetti Architects. The project was completed in January 2016, and cost US $400 million. It emphasized improved fan experience with five expanded and redesigned fan entrances (called 'injectors'), as well as wider and more comfortable seats, and more restrooms and concession stands. After the renovations were complete, the track's grandstands had 101,500 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000. The project was finished before the start of Speedweeks in 2016.

Reader's Guide

The track's tri-oval is 2.500 mi long with 31° banking in the turns and 18° banking at the start/finish line. The front straight is 3800 ft long and the back straight (or 'superstretch') is 3000 ft long. The tri-oval shape was revolutionary at the time as it greatly improved sight lines for fans. It is one of the three tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit that are considered 'drafting tracks', the others being Talladega Superspeedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

On July 15, 2010, repaving of the track began. This came almost a year earlier than planned due to the track coming apart during the 2010 Daytona 500. The project used an estimated 50,000 tons of asphalt to repave 1.4 e6sqft including the racing surface, apron, skid pads and pit road. Because of good weather, the project was completed ahead of schedule.

On October 9, 2013, Colin Braun drove a Daytona Prototype car prepared by Michael Shank Racing to set a single-lap record on the tri-oval configuration of 222.971 mph. During NASCAR events, it takes less than a minute for the cars to complete a lap around the 2.500 mi tri-oval course. The 3.810 mi road course was built in 1959 and first hosted a three-hour sports car race called the Daytona Continental in 1962. The race length became 2000 km in 1964, and in 1966 was extended to a 24-hour endurance race known as the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

It was shortened again to six hours in 1972 and the 1974 rendition of the race was cancelled entirely. In 1973, a very sharp chicane was added at the end of the backstretch, approaching oval turn three. In 1984 and 1985, the layout was modified, re-profiling road course turns 1 and 2, and moving what is now turn 3 (nicknamed the 'International Horseshoe').

Did You Know?

• The track was built on a 447 acre parcel of land adjacent to Daytona Beach Municipal Airport, leased for $10,000 a year over a 50-year period.
• Lake Lloyd was formed when crews excavated over a million square yards of soil from the infield to build the high banking, and the hole filled with water due to the high water table.
• The first practice run on the new track was on February 6, 1959, and the inaugural Daytona 500 was held on February 22, 1959, with 42,000 attendees.
• Lights were installed in 1998 to run NASCAR's July race, the Coke Zero 400 at night, and the system costs about $240 per hour when in operation.
• The track's lighting system is limited to 20% of its maximum output for the 24 Hours of Daytona to keep cars dependent on their headlights.