When drivers accelerate at the start of the classic Daytona 500 auto race on Florida’s northeast coast on Sunday, they can expect to reach speeds of around 180 mph.
However, that’s nothing compared to what Sir Malcolm Campbell achieved on March 7, 1935, when he set the then-world land speed record of 276.82 mph while tearing around the hard-packed sands of Daytona Beach in his sleek racing car. Blue Bird racing.
This was considered one of the key moments in the British driver’s career, a dizzying burst alongside the breaking waves that formed the first stones of the speedway.
His exploits and those of other pioneering sprinters would soon lead to the first stock car races on what was known as the Daytona Beach Road Course (along the beach and coastal road) before Daytona International Speedway, which opened in 1959.
Thus began the popular NASCAR (National Stock Car Racing Association) racing spree, of which the Daytona 500 is just one.
Tom Chesshyre visited Florida’s northeast coast to watch the classic Daytona 500 auto race
Sir Malcolm Campbell and his wife Dorothy. Sir Campbell set the then world land speed record of 276.82 mph at Daytona Beach in 1935.
Tom found riding in a NASCAR Chevrolet to be “a dizzying, exhilarating and terrifying experience.”
The best thing is that you can take a stroll around the tracks where the race takes place, while you sunbathe on your Florida beach break, which is how I found myself racing at 170 mph in the passenger seat of a shiny Chevrolet of NASCAR.
In the banked curves the car flew upwards, the speed hit you backwards; A dizzying, stimulating and terrifying experience.
Afterwards, still shivering a little, our group had the opportunity to visit the Motor Sports Hall of Fame, a museum filled with famous vintage and fast cars, including Sir Malcolm’s Blue Bird.
Here you learned that the early days of fast cars had to do with bootleggers rigged vehicles to outrun the police during Prohibition.
But Daytona has more than fast cars. There are also slow cars.
Daytona Beach, where Tom says “you can rent a golf cart and drive” or just stop for “a bite to eat at one of the great crab, oyster and burger restaurants.”
Tom found ‘fishing with veterans at the end of Sunglow Pier’ in Daytona Beach relaxing
On the wide, 23-mile-long sandy beach, you can rent a golf cart and drive (maximum speed 10 mph) stopping here and there for a swim or a bite to eat at one of the excellent crab, oyster, and burger restaurants. joints. Just watch out for the cops in the “beach enforcement” vans who sometimes issue speeding tickets.
The beach is so perfect in Daytona that it has long attracted American college students to its “spring break” parties in late March and early April. However, at other times of the year, aside from the big Daytona 500 weekend, it’s a surprisingly quiet place for a Florida getaway.
There is much more to do than sunbathe and drive cars. Stand up paddle boarding on the Halifax River was a wonderful experience, floating through downtown and seeing Daytona from a completely different angle.
Fishing with the old timers at the end of Sunglow pier was also relaxing. We didn’t get stung, although a neighbor caught a two-foot shark.
You can also take catamaran rides from Ponce Inlet and watch locals enjoy “water picnics” on sandbars with knee-deep ocean. Away from the expressways, life can be slow and easy in Florida’s headquarters of speed.