High-banked 2.5-mile tri-oval that hosts the Daytona 500 and, on its combined road course, the Rolex 24 sports-car race.
Origins
Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, built by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. to replace the stock-car racing that had been held on the beach and public road at Daytona Beach. Its high-banked design was intended to allow far higher speeds than a flat oval while improving the view for spectators.
The circuit
The main oval is 2.5 miles (4.02 km) long, with 31 degrees of banking in the turns, and introduced the "tri-oval" shape — a shallow kink on the pit straight that improved sightlines. The steep banking and long straights make Daytona a superspeedway, where cars run in tightly packed drafting formations at sustained high speed. An infield road course combines with the banking to form a 3.56-mile circuit used for sports-car racing.
Racing at Daytona
The circuit's signature event is the Daytona 500. Unusually, NASCAR opens its season with its most prestigious race, and a win in the "Great American Race" can define a driver's career. On the road course, the Rolex 24 at Daytona has been staged since 1966 and is one of the world's major endurance events, opening the international sports-car season each January. A redevelopment between 2013 and 2016 rebuilt the grandstands around roughly 101,500 seats, reaffirming Daytona's standing as one of the most famous venues in American motorsport.