DAYTONA BEACH AND ROAD COURSE - DAYTONA FL
Often called the birthplace of speed; the sands of Daytona saw a lot of racing. Long before NASCAR invaded the hard packed sands of Daytona; drivers had been coming there to set straight line speed records. Between 1905 and 1935, at least 13 organized events took place on the beach and 15 land speed records were set, including the 276.82mph record set in 1935 by Sir Malcolm Campbell. Once speeds reached well over 200 mph, the Bonneville Salt Flats became the choice course since Daytona Beach was too narrow for the higher speeds. Car racing had been going on on the beach since 1938. The course was a four mile lap. Two miles up the beach; then a hard u-turn onto highway A1A and two miles down the asphalt with another hard turn back onto the beach. NASCAR officially started racing there after the formal creation of NASCAR; so the first 'official" race was held in July of 1949. It was won by the previous years NASCAR Modified Champion Red Byron. The series raced there every year through 1958 when Daytona International Speedway was open. The race was always competitive with only two drivers managing to
win more than one of the 39 laps affairs. Of course racing on the beach also posed it's own problems; like when in 1952 the race had to be shortened to 37 laps because of the incoming tide. The final race saw Paul Goldsmith hold off Curtis Turner by five car lengths. In the photo below you will see a building circled in yellow. This is the North Turn Grille. As of 2024 the site is still there and open for business serving great food. It also has lots of photos inside and is almost a mini-museum covering the history of racing on the beach. Other photos below show the Grille as it is today and a plaque showing this was the North Turn of the Daytona Beach course. The "actual" course is at Ponce Inlet and located in Wilbur-by-the-sea. The community gained national attention after Hurricane Nicole in 2022 when many oceanfront homes collapsed into the
North Turn Grille (circled) during Beach races shown above; and the entrance as of 2024 at right.
ocean due to the erosion Hurricane Ian had caused weeks before. Below is the North Turn Grille as it is now. The sands are now quiet and serene; at times filled with people walking, playing or just absorbing the Daytona sun. One has to wonder just how many of them are aware of what actually transpired here since the first green flag flew in that first race in 1936 to when the final checkered flag fell in 1958.
Above left is sign showing North Turn Grille
Above right is entrance to beach where turns 1 and 2 were.
Left is a plaque commemorating the location of the north turn
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