Today as we watched some of the Daytona 500, Gerri started telling me about her memories of the race. You see, she was born in Daytona and remembers when the race used to be on the beach itself. It actually started on A1A South and turned onto the beach. As the event grew, Bill France Sr. started the planning for the speedway in 1953. Gerri’s dad knew him and would talk about the process of building the speedway. The track itself was built in 1958 and the first race was in 1959.
Gerri’s dad and brother would enter the infield as early as possible and they would all tailgate and watch the race. She remembers walking the pit row and seeing many of the big name racers. One of her best friends was Pam Roberts, daughter of Fireball Roberts. He died as a result of a race in 1964.
A few years ago, we had the privilege of spending a week in Daytona and touring the speedway. There is a museum in the building that is well worth the time to visit. You can learn a lot about the race and its history at the museum.
Travor Bayne, a 20 year old, won the race today. What an incredible feat for him!
What a race that was today. I'm a Dale, Jr. fan and had hopes up until almost the end. But it's really neat that Trevor won. We got to meet him when we were at Charlotte and he was still driving in the Nationwide Series. Nice, nice young man.
ReplyDeleteCan't say that I've ever been interested in cars racing around in a circle. Different strokes for different folks, thank goodness! :)
ReplyDeletegreat tribute to Daytona!..it was race day here!..thanks for sharing Gerri's memories with us!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a great time. A 20 tear old winning the Daytona 500 must be a record?
ReplyDeleteTake care and have a great week :-)
~Ron
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Thanks for a little history of the Daytona Speedway - it sounds like quite a place. I'm not a NASCAR fan as I get quite bored with all the caution flags that result in the guys just driving around slowly in circles.
ReplyDeleteFun memories! Interesting that you were there before it actually became so big. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post...thanks for sharing. I never knew it used to be on the beach.
ReplyDeleteWow - that's cool. Gerri's got some great memories/history there! Fireball Roberts was definitely one of the "good guys."
ReplyDeleteHope you guys are doing well!!
We were Dale fans..and now "Little E" fans..Too bad he crashed at the end yesterday. We used to take our kids to Daytona Beach for vacation, but never did the racetrack tour..We need to do that...We have toured the Indianapolis track and saw the strip of brick left from the old track...And to think all this racing was started by the bootleggers during prohibition..Amazing..Thanks for the tour..
ReplyDeleteIt was an excellent race. We are in the Orlando area but did not choose to be at the track this year, we have been there 3 out of the 6 years we have been out here. We decided to take the funds we would have spent there and put them towards tracks on the circuit we haven't been to yet. So far, we have Indianapolis and Michigan planned for being at this year.
ReplyDeletePhoenix next week, our home track.
We hope that the win for Trevor will change the Woods brothers minds and have him drive more races this year then what they planned. What a fabulous day for that young man...
What great memories! I would loved to have seen them racing on the beach back then!
ReplyDeleteWe're thrilled with Trevor's win! He was impressive both on and off the track. Very well spoken, humble and honest about his faith. Hoping this is just the beginning for him!
Kathy
How cool is it that Gerri has such a history with the track... We have been there for rallies and it is indeed a very impressive race track.
ReplyDeleteHave fun & travel safe
Donna
Watched every minute of the race yesterday. Can't believe that young kid beat all the pros. He certainly deserved it!!
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