Daytona International Speedway is the home of "The Great American Race" -- the Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 is the biggest, richest and most prestigious race in America and annually kicks off the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Although the Daytona 500 garners most of the attention, the enormous 480-acre motorsports complex boasts the most diverse schedule of racing on the globe -- earning it the title of "World Center of Racing."
In addition to nine major weekends of racing activity, featuring everything from NASCAR to the Rolex Sports Car Series to the American Motorcyclist Association and the World Karting Association, the Speedway is also booked for more than two solid months each year for testing and development of various race vehicles.
Motorized meandering aside, rarely a week goes by that the Speedway grounds are not used for events that include civic and social gatherings, car shows, athletic games, photo "shoots," production vehicle testing and police motorcycle training.
"The Speedway is a venue that is known throughout the world as a top-line race track -- a place where everyone in motorsports wants to claim a victory," said Speedway President Joie Chitwood III. "However, we're also committed to being versatile enough and responsive enough to provide a site where community activities can successfully be held."
Daytona is indeed the site of a diverse mix of activities. Go-karts, which look deceptively similar to the machines that can be driven by families on holiday, compete for five days in December. Among the racing stars that have competed in go-karts at the Speedway include Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Scott Pruett, Brian Vickers and Jamie McMurray.
After a jam-packed month of race car testing in January, Speedweeks arrives.
Its diversity includes sports car drivers in the Grand American Rolex 24 At Daytona and stock car drivers competing in five different series.
This amazing variety is only table-dressing for the medley of personalities and machines that invade Daytona for Daytona 200 Week in March. Each year, racers and fans from around the world converge on the Speedway for the best in road racing, supercross and dirt track competition.
A diverse group of events are held through the balance of the year, including two other major professional weekends, as well as Sports Car Club of America amateur sports car races; antique and classic car shows held in the spring and fall by the Daytona Beach Racing and Recreational Facilities District; the Police Motorcycle Skills Championship; various charity and community athletic events such as walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons and dinners; receptions; and picnics. |
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