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100 Years of Racing Trivia
1903-1909:
Before the France family, there was William J. Morgan, who organized the first auto race on area beaches. His efforts – and the relentless pursuit of the world land speed record – helped nurture the “Birthplace of Speed” during its infancy.
Historical significance: New York promoter W.J. Morgan begins “Sandfest” program in Ormond Beach.
Top speed: The top speed in the flying mile is 127.660 mph.
Engines: Electric, steam, gas.
Cars: Stanley Steamer, Fiat, Napier.
Tires: Goodyear used square woven fabric in tires until 1902, when it switched to cord fabric. It proved beneficial on the race course because of its increased durability. In 1905, Goodyear invented straight-side detachable tires.
Big names: Ransom Olds, Alexander Winton, H.T. Thomas, Louis Chevrolet, Barney Oldfield.
Tickets: No charge.
Safety: Drivers wore goggles to protect eyes from sand.
Deaths: Driver Frank Croker and riding mechanic Alexander Raoul (1905).
Media: Newspaper/magazine writers and photographers, newsreel cameramen.
1910-1919:
Beach racing takes a detour for a few years, but Ralph DePalma returns to the shores in 1919 to wash away Barney Oldfield from the record books.
Historical significance: Public loses interest in beach racing because of World War I.
Speeds: The top speed in the flying mile is 149.875 mph.
Engines: Gas-burning piston motors, steam.
Cars: Benz, Packard, Stanley Steamer.
Tires: The cord tire dominated Goodyear race tire development.
Big names: Barney Oldfield, Ralph DePalma.
Tickets: No charge.
Safety: Goggles, fabric head covering.
Deaths: None.
Media: Newspaper/magazine writers and photographers, newsreel cameramen.
1920-1929:
Just as the Winston Cup drivers of the 1980s sped toward the 200-mph mark, men like Campbell, Segrave and Lockhart took aim at that standard – and beyond – on the beaches of Daytona.
Historical significance: Land speed runs fuel interest in local racing industry.
Speeds: The top speed in the flying mile is 231.362 mph.
Engines: Napier and Liberty aircraft motors.
Cars: Duesenberg, Wisconsin, Sunbeam, Napier, Stutz.
Tires: Balloon tires became popular for passenger cars, cushioning the ride. After WWI, used cord tires for racing (same ones as street tires), but discovered that thinner tread worked better.
Big names: Tommy Milton, Sig Haugdahl, Henry Segrave, Sir Malcolm Campbell.
Tickets: No charge.
Safety: Henry Segrave becomes first driver to wear metal-formed helmet during speed runs.
Deaths: Frank Lockhart (1928); Lee Bible (1929).
Media: Newspaper/magazine writers and photographers, newsreel cameramen.
1930-1939:
Sir Malcolm Campbell´s Bluebird flirts with the unthinkable – 300 mph – and a recent transplant by the name of Bill France steps up to promote the beach/road races at Daytona.
1930-1935:
Historical significance: End of land speed era on the beach.
Speeds: The top speed in the flying mile is 276.820 mph.
Engines: Napier and Rolls-Royce airplane engines.
Cars: Bluebird, Golden Arrow.
Tires: People used Goodyear passenger car tires on the stock cars in Southeast.
Big names: Sir Malcolm Campbell.
Tickets: No charge.
Safety: Campbell wears a leather helmet and a jumpsuit.
Deaths: None.
Media: Newspaper/magazine writers and photographers, newsreel cameramen.
1936-1939:
Historical significance: Beginning of stock-car racing.
Speeds: Smokey Purser averages 67 mph in the 1937 beach/road course race.
Engines: American-made stock blocks.
Cars: Ford, Mercury, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Hudson.
Tires: In 1936, Goodyear´s new Double Eagle Airwheel tire was raced on the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was a non-skid tread pattern, tougher rubber, heat fighter, stronger bead and Supertwist cord plies.
Big names: Milt Marion, William (Bill) H.G. France, Danny Murphy, Sam Rice, Stuart Joyce.
Tickets: General admission in 1939 – 55 cents.
Safety: Driver (Mad) Marion McDonald used a rope for a seat belt and taped knife to dashboard in case of emergency exit.
Deaths: None.
1940-1949:
Bill France gets “the boys” together at his hotel bar in Daytona Beach to create a stock car sanctioning body. NASCAR is born, and its first race is held on Daytona´s new beach/road course in 1948.
Historical significance: NASCAR forms in 1947.
Speeds: Red Byron averages 80.20 mph in the 1946 beach/road course race.
Engines: Gas-powered, V-8 blocks.
Cars: Ford, Mercury, Buick, Oldsmobile, Chrysler, Plymouth, Hudson.
Big names: Rod Hall, Smokey Purser, Red Byron.
Tickets: Beach/road course general admission in 1947 – $1.75.
Safety: NASCAR mandates use of seat belts and doors tied shut with rope; all drivers wear helmets.
Deaths: None.
Media: Media works in a large tent on the beach just off the race course.
1950-1959:
With the construction of hotels crowding out the beach/road race, Bill France begins an arduous, three-year project to turn a few hundred acres of swampland into the 2.5-mile superspeedway we know today.
Historical significance: Racing moves from the beach to Speedway.
Speeds: Lee Petty averages 135.521 mph in inaugural Daytona 500.
Engines: 426 cubic inch V-8.
Cars: Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Plymouth, Mercury, Hudson.
Tires: The biggest change in the ’50s was the use of nylon cord in tires. Race tread patterns continued to be similar to street tires. A T-16 compound proved great for NASCAR tires, with heat-resistance, exceptional wear, tear resistant with no chunks or blisters.
Big names: Lee Petty, Marshall Teague, Bill Blair, Tim Flock, Cotton Owens, Paul Goldsmith, Curtis Turner.
Tickets: 1959 Daytona 500, DePalma box grandstand seat – $8.
Safety: NASCAR mandates use of roll cages; approves heavy-duty axles; shoulder harness.
Deaths: Beach/road course – Dick Kaufman (1953), Charlie Gerrard (spectator, 1953), Cliff (Red) Farwell (1953), Al Briggs (1955); Daytona International Speedway – Marshall Teague (1959), George Amick (1959), Dr. Bernie Taylor (1959).
Media: Media covering ‘59 Daytona 500 works from a makeshift press box – an open-air platform made of wood in the grandstand area.
1960-1969:
With the death of popular Daytona Beach driver Glen “Fireball” Roberts in 1964 – and a rash of other fatal crashes – stock car racing begins to ditch the jeans, lap belts and open windows in favor of safer ways to protect its participants.
Historical significance: Safety becomes a hot topic.
Speeds: LeeRoy Yarbrough averages 157.950 mph to win ’69 Daytona 500.
Engines: Chrysler Hemis; 8-cylinder Chevy small block.
Cars: Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Plymouth, Dodge, Mercury.
Tires: A tire with an inner tube, was introduced, and mandated for use by NASCAR on superspeedways. In the late ’60s, Goodyear learned in sportscar racing that the powerful cars raced best on a tread pattern with no grooves – a slick, which gave the maximum traction.
Big names: Fireball Roberts, Junior Johnson, Marvin Panch, Tiny Lund, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Fred Lorenzen, Cale Yarborough.
Tickets: 1963 Daytona 500, DePalma box grandstand seat – $20.
Safety: Rubber bladder in fuel tank; tires with inner-liners; driver firesuits; fire extinguishers in cockpit; wide use of shoulder harness systems.
Deaths: NASCAR: Martin Every (1960), Harold Haberling (1964), Billy Drew Wade (1965); Other: Don MacTavish (1969), Wayne Harris Bartz (1969).
Media: CBS Sports Spectacular offers first live radio broadcast from Daytona on Jan. 31, 1960.
1970-1979:
Former outlaws and Southern-fried stars no more, racers in the top stock car series get national attention thanks to 1979´s nationally-televised Daytona 500 and a post-race donnybrook.
Historical significance: Daytona 500 becomes known as “Super Bowl of stock-car racing.”
Speeds: A.J. Foyt averages an event-record 161.550 mph to win ’72 Daytona 500.
Engines: All engines downsized from 400 cubic inches to 352.
Cars: Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Pontiac.
Big names: Richard Petty, A.J. Foyt, Benny Parsons, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Buddy Baker.
Tickets: 1975 Daytona 500, DePalma box grandstand seat – $20.
Safety: Window nets; slick tires; Dri-Break fueling systems.
Deaths: Talmadge (Tab) Prince (1970), Joe (Rusty) Bradley (1971), David Pearl (1971), Friday Hassler (1972).
Media: The 1979 Daytona 500 is first Winston Cup race to be broadcast live on national television from start to finish.
1980-1989:
They may not have had the ocean sandblasting their cheeks, but Winston Cup drivers pushed the limits like their land speed record predecessors in pursuit of the elusive, and dangerous, 200-mph mark.
Historical significance: Winston Cup drivers break the 200 mph barrier.
Speeds: Cale Yarborough earns 1984 Daytona 500 pole with a lap of 201.848 mph.
Engines: Busch Series tries V-6 power.
Cars: Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Buick, Ford, Chevrolet.
Big names: Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Davey Allison, Benny Parsons, Geoffrey Bodine, Ricky Rudd, Sterling Marlin, Kenny Schrader, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett.
Tickets: 1985 Daytona 500, DePalma box grandstand seat – $45.
Safety: Metal roof strips; removable steering wheel; radial tires; face mask for improved oxygen flow.
Deaths: Ricky Knotts (1980), Stuart Mills Roberts (spectator, 1984), Francis Affleck (1985), Dr. Charles Ogle (1987), Bruce Jacobi (1987), Joe Young, James Kolman (1987), Randy Glenn (1988), Don Williams (1989), Dale Robertson (1989).
Media: The majority of Daytona´s races are broadcast on television.
1990-2000:
If ever a driver put a face on 100 years of racing here, it was Dale Earnhardt. The Man in Black lived – and died – dominating racing in Daytona like no one before.
Historical significance: Speedway adds more than 80,000 seats.
Speeds: Dale Earnhardt averages 172.712 mph in ’98 Daytona 500 win.
Engines: Normally-aspirated 354ci V-8.
Cars: Chevrolets, Ford, Pontiac.
Tires: In 1991, the tubeless version of the inner liner tire was introduced into Winston Cup racing. It removed the equalization problem. In 1993, every race on the Winston Cup schedule was on Goodyear radials.
Big names: Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Davey Allison, Ernie Irvan, Sterling Marlin, Geoffrey Bodine, Terry Labonte, Mike Skinner, Mark Martin.
Tickets: 1995 Daytona 500, DePalma box grandseat seat – $50.
Safety: Roof flaps; passenger-side plexiglass inserts.
Deaths: Julius (Slick) Johnson (1990), Joe Booher (1993), James Adamo (1993), Neil Bonnett (1994), Rodney Orr (1994), Michael Himes (1997), Roger Reiman (1997).
Media: ESPN offers nearly continuous live coverage of Speed Weeks in conjunction with CBS.
2000-2003:
Historical significance: Dale Earnhardt becomes first driver to die in the Daytona 500.
Speeds: Dale Jarrett wins 2000 Daytona 500 pole with a lap of 191.091 mph.
Engines: Cast iron, 5.7-liter V-8.
Cars: Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Pontiac.
Tires: As much as 75 percent of tire design work is done by Goodyear engineers in the Tech Center via computer modeling and track simulation, prior to taking the resulting choices of test tires to a track.
Big names: Dale Earnhardt, Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Johnny Benson, Mike Skinner.
Tickets: $120.
Safety: Automatic engine-kill switch system; larger driver-side window; black box technology; six-point harness; composite seats; head and neck restraints; head nets; head restraints attached to seats.
Deaths: Chris Tatro (2000), Dale Earnhardt (2001), Dirk Piz (2001), Stuart Stratton (2001), Michael Davis Jr. (2001).
Media: NASCAR´s $2.4 billion TV contract begins with 2001 Daytona 500.
Special Report: 100 YEARS OF RACING |  |