Long before Daytona International Speedway had high banks, fast cars and crowds of cheering fans, stock car bravados raced on the beach and A1A. Many years later, the youngest winner of the Daytona 500 will drive from that beach to the venerated 2.5-mile racetrack that put NASCAR on the map.
Courtesy of Daytona International Speedway:
2011 Daytona 500 Champion Trevor Bayne will kick off the stock car portion of Speedweeks 2012 on Friday, Feb. 17 by driving his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford through the streets of eastern Volusia County to historic Daytona International Speedway where he will defend his victory in the “Great American Race.”
Escorted by the 2012 Toyota Camry Daytona 500 Pace Car, Bayne will begin his drive on A1A south of Dunlawton Avenue at 11:15 a.m. He will travel North along A1A before heading west on International Speedway Blvd. to NASCAR Way. He will enter Daytona International Speedway at Gate 7 and cross the start/finish line brandishing a large green flag.
“We encourage the local community to come out and cheer on Trevor Bayne as he drives along A1A and International Speedway Boulevard toward ‘The World Center of Racing’ to defend his Daytona 500 victory,” Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said. “We would like to extend our thanks to Volusia County officials starting with County Council Chair Frank Bruno, officials from the cities of Ponce Inlet, Daytona Beach Shores and Daytona Beach, and all the local law enforcement agencies and other officials for their assistance with this unique event that showcases the rich racing tradition of our area.”
Details are available on www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com
Six major NASCAR tracks are within a day's drive of Tampa. Great destinations justify journeys.
Here the NASCAR venue is considered local if tracks are within a 10 hour drive from Tampa—Daytona International Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of motorsports topics by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained from official release materials provided by sanctions, teams or track representatives.
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