Daytona Beach, Florida, March 27, 2001
NASCAR Official Attraction
The Daytona Motorsports Attraction is situated a mile east of exit 87 off Interstate
95, adjacent to the main entrance of the Daytona International Speedway, on
West International Speedway Boulevard. The venue was opened in 1996 and in
1998 was made the official NASCAR attraction, with its static and interactive
exhibition areas reflecting America’s most popular form of motor sport. On the
paved concourse outside the entrance stands a life size bronze sculpture of Bill
France and his wife, the founders of NASCAR and builders of the Daytona
International Speedway.
Through The Tunnel
The main exhibition area is known as the Velocitorium, and is entered through
twin pit tunnels from the foyer area. Once inside, one is greeted with a taste of
Daytona’s history, from the era when the races took place on the beach shores.
There is Sir Malcolm Campbell’s world land speed record breaking Bluebird V,
that set a new record land speed record of 276.82mph at Daytona Beach in
1935, the last record attempt ever made at the venue. The move from beach
races to the speedway vision of Bill France, can be seen through a series of
photographs depicting the construction of his dream, together with an array of
trophies marking some of the greatest race accomplishments at the Daytona
Speedway. There is also a wall of winners, listing the names of all the important
race victors since the track opened in 1959.
NASCAR Evolution
A section of banked track in the central part of the exhibition area and
suspended full scale models flying towards it, traces the evolution of the
NASCAR racer through the years from a model of the 1959 Daytona 500 winning
Oldsmobile, through another six models including a 1962 Pontiac, a 1970
Plymouth Superbird, and a 1990 Chevrolet. On the banking sit three cars
representing the modern NASCAR Winston Cup stock car, from Chevrolet, Ford
and Pontiac. There is a ”Heroes of the Track” section where visitors can hear
comments about about NASCAR racing from some of its main protagonists, and
an interactive Trivia Tower where you can fight friends with your knowledge, or
lack of, about racing at the Daytona Speedway.
Paul Newman
As part of the Heroes of the Track feature exhibition, which also includes a
quartet of motorcycles and a pair of Go-karts, is the 1995 Ford Mustang that was
used to publicise the film ”Nobody’s Fool” starring Paul Newman. This car
carried race number 70 to celebrate his 70th birthday, and he co-drove it to win
the GTS-1 class in the 1995 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona race, no mean feat for
the youngster!
Pit Stop
One of the interactive features is the Ford Ingersoll-Rand 16 second pit stop
challenge, where you become a member of the Todd Parrott team pit crew to try
and beat the 16 second barrier for a fuel/tyre change on the Quality Care/Ford
Credit Taurus. This together with other interactive adventures like ”Racing
Appliances”, where you are strapped into a racing seat to experience the 31
degree banking of the Speedway, the STP time trials where you try and set up a
car for Pole Day, or the Pepsi film theatre showing of the Daytona 500, provide a
very broad spectrum of ”hands on” entertainment for the visitor.
Speedway Tour
If the Motorsport attraction leaves you wanting more, then there is an extensive
boutique offering virtually everything for the NASCAR fan, from scale models of
the current cars through team T shirts, caps, and jackets, to driver loyalty
memorabilia of every description. There is also the opportunity to take a guided
tour of the Speedway infield on a shuttle service that leaves every half hour. If you
visit before the season starts, you will frequently find teams testing on the circuit.
Even when you see them flying past singly, you can conjure up an image of what
forty odd cars in close company must look and sound like, then you realise why
NASCAR is so popular.
|