Daytona beach: sun-seekers and race car fans flock to this Florida vacation haven

Travel America, Nov-Dec, 2003 by Deborah Williams

DAYTONA BEACH CALLS ITSELF "the world's most famous beach," although perhaps it should be changed to "most gregarious."

Bicyclists, motorists, loungers, walkers, joggers, sand sculptors, metal detector fans, surf casters, sunbathers, and swimmers compete for space on this central Florida beach. Since the sands extend for 23 miles, there is room just about everyone and everything.

Daytona Beach might be just another Florida coastal town if it were not for John D. Rockefeller and an historic auto race on the town's famed beach a century ago. The 1903 race was a time trial that pitted millionaires Ransom Olds and Alexander Winton against each other.

The roots of the sport can be traced back to Ormond Beach, a small beach resort just north of Daytona Beach, and its most famous resident. One of Rockefeller's goals was to live to be 100 years old (he died on May 23, 1973--two months shy of his 98th birthday). His friend, Florida railroad magnate Henry Flagler, suggested that in order to reach his goal, he should spend his winters in Ormond Beach. Rockefeller, the richest man in the world at the time, took his friend's advice and enjoyed his stay so much at Flagler's Ormond Hotel that he eventually made Ormond Beach his permanent winter address.

His home, The Casements, serves as an interpretive museum for his final years. As local legend has it, Rockefeller decided to buy his own home across the street from the hotel after learning he was being charged more for his room than were the other guests.

"Neighbor John, as he was called here, concealed weapons throughout the house," our guide said. "Behind many pictures there were guns because he was afraid that someone would kill him. His Christmas parties were always the big event of the social season. He liked to chat with the 'newspaper boys' as he called reporters, and his activities were closely followed by many people."

Rockefeller's friends came to town to see him and discovered miles of beach--perfect for opening up the throttle along the hard-packed sands. In the 1903 trial, Winton in Iris Bullet #1 edged out Olds in his Pirate by a narrow two-tenths of a second--reaching the then astounding speed of 48 m.p.h, hour. Their battle launched America's love of motor racing, mad the sleepy little winter resort town garnered its place in history as "The Birthplace of Speed."

This historic race didn't end Winton's fascination with speed. Determined to set a world land speed record, Winton returned the next year with a faster car named The Bullet No. 2 and set a land speed record of 68 m.p.h. The event was chronicled in many newspapers and spread awareness of automobile racing among the elite.

After Winton's feat, 19 annual tournaments of speed were held on the shores of Ormond and Daytona Beach from 1904 to 1935, advancing the world land speed record 15 times. In 1904 industrialist W.K. Vanderbilt crushed Winton's record, zooming down the beaches of Ormond Beach at an astounding 92.30 miles per hour in his No. 1, a specially built Mercedes. Vanderbilt's awesome feat received worldwide media attention, and the event became the spark for associating Ormond and Daytona Beach with fast cars.

The Boardwalk's "Salute to Speed" exhibit features more than 30 granite plaques commemorating the area's rich motorsports history. Memorabilia from the early days of racing can also be found at the Halifax Historical Museum in Daytona Beach in its new exhibit, "The Racing Zone."

In 1947 the National Association of Stock Car Racing (NASCAR), the sanctioning body for stock car racing, was formed at a meeting in a Daytona Beach motel. In 1959 the high-banked 2.5-mile tri-oval track known as Daytona International Speedway was completed, and the first Daytona 500 was run on February 22 that year.

Over the last four decades, NASCAR racing has continued to grow in popularity. More than 150,000 race fans attend the association's premier race, the Daytona 500. In addition to the Daytona 500, held each February, and July's Pepsi 400, major motorcycle races are staged in both March and October at the speedway. In December go-kart racers from around the world zoom around the speedway's road course.

Daytona USA, a motorsports attraction on the speedway grounds, has a walk of fame that chronicles milestone events in racing and the evolution of speed. It also features a 15-minute feature film, a do-it-yourself participatory pit stop, and a video "interview" session with popular NASCAR drivers. The race car of the current Daytona 500 champion is also on display.

Visitors may also take a tram tour of Daytona International Speedway. Adventurous race fans can ride along with a specially trained instructor around the track via the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

Daytona Beach also appeals to culturally-minded visitors. The town was a favorite vacation haunt for General Batista, Cuba's pre-Castro leader. Because of Batista's visits, the Daytona Beach Museum of Arts and Sciences features the largest collection of Cuban art outside Cuba. It also houses 18th and 19th century antiquities, traveling exhibitions, the Center for Florida History, and a planetarium.