Where did the Daytona 500 origianlly begin?

Question

I have a friend that says that the Daytona 500 was orginally raced on the beaches of Daytona. I find that hard to believe. If anybody can give me some insight, it would be greatly appreaciated.

Answer 1

Your friend is correct :)   Mostly, anyway.  It wasn't called the Daytona 500 until DIS opened in 1959.  But they DID race on the beach!

In 1903 they began racing at Daytona Beach (the Daytona Beach Road Course) and ended in 1958 (because Daytona International Speedway was open in 1959).  The track used both the beach and A1A (which, if you have been to Florida, is the road that follows the east coast of Florida all the way down to the Keys).  Over the year the length varied from 3.2 to 4.2 miles.

Here is a link to read more about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytona_Bea...

Answer 2

your friend is absoSMURFly correct!!! bootleggers brought their suped up cars to the beach to see who was the fastest. the rest is history

Answer 3

The early Daytona races were in fact held on Daytona Beach itself.  The front stretch and all four turns were in the sand, however the backstretch was on a blacktop road by the beach.  This caused quite a few mishaps going from asphalt to sand.  Many of the early drivers were also killed by having their cars flip into the ocean and drowning.

Answer 4

they did race on Daytona Beaches, and the front straight away was asphalt.  But the First Daytona 500 on asphalt was i think was in 1961 with 68 cars and the pace car was driven by Bill France Sr.  And holds the record for the biggest wreck in NASCAR history with 37 cars wrecked.  It was won by Fireball Roberts. Below is a video from youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Eb3Sf6Kf...

Answer 5

on the beaches of daytona florida.  in the sand.....thats right the sand

Answer 6

It began at Ormond Beach, later moved to Daytona for economic reasons.

Answer 7

They was very correct and it lasted 3 yrs and decided to make a asphalt track so they wouldnt erode the beach

Answer 8

The first Daytona 500 was run on Feb. 22, 1959, There wre 59 cars a the start, and the Purse was $67,760.00. It was run at daytona Beach fl.

Answer 9

YES! Ormand Beach, the original two race cars; Winton Bullet, with Alexander Winton driving and the Olds Pirate, with Ransom Olds (Oldsmobile) driving. Ormand Beach the "Birth Place of Speed"! Beach Racing began here in 1902, Ormand Beach! Olds and Winton tied at 57 MPH, the first ever race there, later they would race two more times. The rest is History! As I recall there really weren't to many paved roads if any back then! 1903 The first "Challenge Cup Mile", where the Winton Bullet beat the Olds Pirate!

Answer 10

The actual 500 was raced on a speedway but prior to that it was raced on the beach and was a 200 mile race.  Read the link, cuz I don't want to re-type it