"The World Center of Racing. A 2.5-mile tri-oval on a roughly 500-acre complex in Daytona Beach, Florida, with 31-degree highbanks, a 29-acre lake dug out of its own infield, and the race that opens the NASCAR season every February. Since 1959, stock car racing's biggest stage."
Key Takeaways
- 2.5-mile tri-oval superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The famous 31-degree highbanks were part of the original design, built so higher speeds could be achieved and so fans could see the cars all the way around the track.
- Opened in 1959, the year racing moved off the beach-road course. The first DAYTONA 500 ran on February 22, 1959 in front of a crowd of more than 41,000, and took 61 hours to decide: Johnny Beauchamp went to Victory Lane, but newsreel footage showed Lee Petty had won by roughly two feet.
- Built by Bill France Sr., who proposed a permanent speedway on April 4, 1953 and signed the contract with the City of Daytona Beach and Volusia County on August 16, 1954. Land clearing began in 1957.
- Owned by NASCAR since the sanctioning body completed its $2 billion merger with International Speedway Corporation on October 18, 2019, bringing Daytona, Darlington, Talladega, Homestead-Miami and the rest of the ISC portfolio under the France family's NASCAR Holdings.
- Approximately 101,500 permanent seats after the $400 million DAYTONA Rising frontstretch renovation, which broke ground on July 5, 2013 and was completed in January 2016.
- This week at Daytona: the Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola (NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series) runs Friday, August 28 at 7:30 p.m., and the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Finale, runs Saturday, August 29 at 7:30 p.m. Friday's race is the last one before the 2026 O'Reilly Chase field is set: the top 12 drivers after Daytona advance to the nine-race championship battle.
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida Track Type: Paved tri-oval superspeedway Length: 2.5 miles Banking: 31-degree highbanks in the turns (original 1959 design) Capacity: Approximately 101,500 permanent seats (post-DAYTONA Rising) Opened: 1959 (first DAYTONA 500: February 22, 1959) Complex: Approximately 500 acres, including the 29-acre Lake Lloyd in the infield Owner: NASCAR (via the October 18, 2019 merger with International Speedway Corporation) Sanctioning: NASCAR Cup Series · NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series · IMSA (Rolex 24 At DAYTONA) · AMA (DAYTONA 200) · Supercross Nickname: "The World Center of Racing"
This Weekend: Race to The Chase
Daytona closes the NASCAR regular season with a doubleheader, August 28 and 29, 2026:
| Date | Race | Series | Green flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, Aug 28 | 25th Annual Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola | NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series | 7:30 p.m. |
| Saturday, Aug 29 | Coke Zero Sugar 400 | NASCAR Cup Series (Regular Season Finale) | 7:30 p.m. |
Friday's Winn-Dixie 250 is Race 24 of the O'Reilly Series season, the last race before the 2026 Chase field locks in. Per NASCAR's Chase format, the top 12 drivers after Daytona advance to the nine-race championship battle that opens at Darlington on September 5. Daytona's pack racing makes it the classic anything-can-happen cutoff race: a win Friday night can rewrite the Chase field on the spot.
Tickets: available through the track's official event page at daytonainternationalspeedway.com/events/summer-cup-race, with Friday general admission and reserved seating, Saturday reserved seating, Hard Rock Bet Fanzone pre-race access, camping, and hospitality options. The track's box office line is 1-800-PITSHOP. The official weekend schedule carries session times as the track posts them.
Overview
Daytona International Speedway is the flagship facility of American stock car racing: a 2.5-mile tri-oval superspeedway whose 31-degree banked turns have defined the sport's image since 1959. The track calls itself the World Center of Racing, and the calendar shows why the nickname stuck. The season-opening DAYTONA 500 is NASCAR's biggest race; the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA is North America's most prestigious sports car race; the DAYTONA 200 motorcycle classic and Daytona Supercross carry the two-wheel side; and the roughly 500-acre complex hosts at least nine major event weekends a year along with concerts, car shows, vehicle testing, and daily track tours. The property is also home to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
The geometry is the identity. The 31-degree highbanks were drawn into the original plan for two reasons the track still cites today: they let the cars run faster, and they tilt the racing surface toward the grandstands so fans can follow the field all the way around 2.5 miles. The dirt to build those banks came out of the infield, and the excavation became the 29-acre Lake Lloyd inside the infield.
For the current generation of NASCAR racing, Daytona means pack racing: full fields running in tight formation at superspeedway speed, where the draft controls everything, runs build and collapse in seconds, and the winning move often is not made until the final lap. That style makes Daytona one of the great equalizers on the schedule, and this week both of the season's biggest cutoffs run on it: the Cup Series Regular Season Finale and the O'Reilly Series Chase cutoff.
History
From the Beach to the Speedway (1953 to 1959)
Racing in Daytona Beach began on the sand, on a beach-road course that made the town famous. By 1953, Bill France Sr. had concluded that beach racing's days were numbered: the town was growing, land use was spreading, and the crowds had outgrown the venue. On April 4, 1953 he proposed a permanent speedway facility, and on August 16, 1954 he signed the contract with the City of Daytona Beach and Volusia County to build what would become Daytona International Speedway. Land clearing began in 1957.
The design was ambitious beyond anything in stock car racing at the time: a 2.5-mile tri-oval with 31-degree banking, sized and shaped so the new sport could show its speed. Racing moved from the beach-road course to the new speedway in 1959.
The First DAYTONA 500 (1959)
The inaugural DAYTONA 500 ran on February 22, 1959, in front of a crowd of more than 41,000, with a field that included both hardtop and convertible race cars, the only 500 ever to include convertibles. The finish was too close to call. Johnny Beauchamp was sent to Victory Lane, and it took 61 hours before newsreel footage proved that Lee Petty had beaten him to the line by roughly two feet. Petty was declared the official winner, and the DAYTONA 500 had its first legend before its first week was over.
Building the Calendar (1961 to 1966)
In 1961 the DAYTONA 200 motorcycle race moved from the beach to the speedway. In 1962 the track hosted the first running of what became the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA. That event began as a three-hour race and grew into the full 24-hour endurance classic by 1966, anchoring Daytona's place in international sports car racing alongside its NASCAR identity.
DAYTONA Rising (2013 to 2016)
The modern facility is the product of DAYTONA Rising, a $400 million frontstretch renovation that broke ground on July 5, 2013 and was completed in January 2016. The project rebuilt the nearly mile-long frontstretch into a modern stadium: approximately 101,500 permanent, wider seats, 40 escalators, 17 elevators, twice the restrooms, three times the concession stands, three concourse levels, and more than 60 trackside luxury suites. The finished project won the SportsBusiness Journal's Sports Business Award for Sports Facility of the Year.
NASCAR Ownership (2019)
Daytona was the crown jewel of International Speedway Corporation, the France family track company. On October 18, 2019, NASCAR completed its $2 billion merger with ISC, and Daytona, along with Darlington, Talladega, Homestead-Miami and the rest of the ISC portfolio, came under direct NASCAR ownership.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1953 | Bill France Sr. proposes a permanent speedway (April 4) |
| 1954 | Contract signed with the City of Daytona Beach and Volusia County (August 16) |
| 1957 | Land clearing begins |
| 1959 | Track opens; first DAYTONA 500 runs February 22; Lee Petty declared winner 61 hours after the finish |
| 1961 | DAYTONA 200 motorcycle race moves from the beach to the speedway |
| 1962 | First running of the race that becomes the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA |
| 1966 | The sports car race becomes a full 24-hour event |
| 2013 | DAYTONA Rising breaks ground (July 5) |
| 2016 | DAYTONA Rising completed (January); approximately 101,500 permanent seats |
| 2019 | NASCAR completes its $2 billion merger with International Speedway Corporation (October 18) |
The Racing: Pack, Draft, and the Cutoff
Daytona is the definitive superspeedway. The 31-degree banking and 2.5-mile lap keep the field wide open, and the aerodynamic draft does the rest: cars run in packs, runs form when two or more cars link up, and track position changes wholesale in seconds. Fuel-saving, lane discipline, and having a pusher behind you matter as much as raw pace. It is a style of racing that keeps underdog runs alive deep into the night, and the closing laps regularly decide everything.
That unpredictability is what makes this week's stakes so high. Saturday's Coke Zero Sugar 400 closes the Cup Series regular season. Friday's Winn-Dixie 250 sets the O'Reilly Series Chase field: top 12 after the race advance to the nine-race championship run. Our full Chase coverage, the provisional field, and the cutoff picture live on the O'Reilly Series standings page.
Track records by series are maintained by the speedway's media office and updated event by event.
Major Events Hosted
| Event | Series | When |
|---|---|---|
| DAYTONA 500 | NASCAR Cup Series | February (season opener; 2027 edition: February 21) |
| Coke Zero Sugar 400 | NASCAR Cup Series | Late August (Regular Season Finale) |
| Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola | NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series | Late August (Chase cutoff) |
| Fresh From Florida 250 | NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series | February (2027 edition: February 19) |
| Rolex 24 At DAYTONA | IMSA sports cars | Late January |
| Speedweeks Presented by AdventHealth | Multiple | February |
| DAYTONA 200 | Motorcycles | March |
| Daytona Supercross | Supercross | March |
| Welcome to Rockville | Music festival | May |
The 2026-27 calendar also includes the HSR Classic 24 Hour, Daytona Kart Week, the Daytona Turkey Run car shows, Bike Week, and Jeep Beach, part of the nine-plus major event weekends the complex hosts each year.
Ownership and Management
Daytona International Speedway is owned by NASCAR, which completed its $2 billion merger with longtime track owner International Speedway Corporation on October 18, 2019. The merger placed the France family's track portfolio and the sanctioning body under one roof, NASCAR Holdings. Daytona operates as the flagship of that portfolio and shares corporate infrastructure with NASCAR itself; the track's website is part of the NASCAR Digital Media Network.
Visiting Daytona
Location and Access
The speedway sits in Daytona Beach, Florida, on a roughly 500-acre complex. Daytona Beach is on Florida's Atlantic coast, northeast of Orlando via I-4 and south of Jacksonville via I-95, which puts two major airline hubs within reach of race weekends.
Tickets, Tours, and the Fan Experience
Race tickets, camping, and hospitality are sold through the track's official site and by phone at 1-800-PITSHOP. The DAYTONA Rising frontstretch carries five themed fan zones the track calls "injectors," backed by AdventHealth, Axalta, Chevrolet, Sunoco, and Toyota, each with its own displays, concessions, and seating sections. Daily track tours run outside race weekends, and the complex houses the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America and the champion DAYTONA 500 car on display.
For Saturday's Coke Zero Sugar 400, the track offers a Hard Rock Bet Fanzone pre-race add-on with driver introductions and a pre-race concert. On Location, an event-travel company, is the track's official travel package provider.
See Also
- Talladega Superspeedway Track Guide covers NASCAR's other giant: the sibling superspeedway where the same pack-racing craft applies at even greater length.
- O'Reilly Series standings for the live Chase cutoff picture heading into Friday night.
- The Grand National Show, our weekly show, follows the stories behind the race all the way through the Chase.
2026 O'Reilly Chase tracks
- Darlington Raceway · Race 25
- World Wide Technology Raceway · Race 26
- Bristol Motor Speedway · Race 27
- Las Vegas Motor Speedway · Race 28
- Charlotte Motor Speedway · Race 29
- Phoenix Raceway · Race 30
- Talladega Superspeedway · Race 31
- Martinsville Speedway · Race 32
- Homestead-Miami Speedway · Race 33
O'Reilly Series reference
Track facts compiled from primary sources read August 26, 2026: daytonainternationalspeedway.com (About Us and event pages), NASCAR.com's Daytona event calendar, the official NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Race 24 entry list (August 24, 2026), and SEC filings on the 2019 NASCAR-International Speedway Corporation merger. Specific records by series are maintained by the speedway's media office. Page version 1, August 26, 2026.