"The Daytona Beach Road Course was a race course used for land speed records in the early 20th century, then for stock car races until 1958. The course was used for NASCAR races from 1948 until 1959 when it was replaced by the Daytona International Speedway.
The Daytona Beach Road Course’s first race was sanctioned by the AAA (American Auto Association) on March 8, 1936. Daytona Beach attempted to organize & promote the race that had a $5000 purse, due to winds and bad driving conditions the track became impassable and the race was forced to end early, resulting in numerous disputes about the results. Milt Marion was named the winner by the AAA . Unfortunatley, the city of Daytona Beach lost 22,000 attempting to promote the race and has not promoted an event since.
In 1937 the Daytona Beach Elks Club promoted the racing event and lost money. So in 1938 Bill France, a racer and garage owner in Daytona beach took over promoting the race and was extremely successful. Bill France promoted the race at the Daytona Beach Road Course from 1938 until 1942.
Races were not regularly held from 1942 until 1948 due to WW2.
After the war, The Daytona Beach Road Course was moved to the location north on A1A, the present location of Racing’s North Turn Restaurant & Lounge was the actual mnorth turn of the track. Thousands used to show up to see the races. Organized Events were beginning to be held around the country. Many times, unscrupulous promoters would blow town with the cash and drivers would not be paid. Promoters needed to organize their efforts. Bill France started to hold talks at the Ebony Bar at the Streamline Hotel with other race promoters from around the country they organized themselves and formed NASCAR in 1948.
The racing continued at The Daytona Beach Road Course with events scheduled yearly thru 1958. The Daytona Beach Raod Course closed when the Daytona International Speedway opened in 1958."
