Daytona Beach's sand is uniquely hard-packed - coquina shells and fine sand create a surface drivable at highway speeds. Malcolm Campbell set land speed records here in the 1930s, reaching 276 mph. When Bonneville Salt Flats proved faster and safer, Daytona pivoted to stock car racing: production vehicles racing a 3.2-mile course along the beach and back via Highway A1A. The course was crude - sand, seawater, tire tracks - but crowds loved it. The racing culture attracted mechanics, drivers, and the moonshine runners whose modified engines made ordinary cars fast enough to escape authorities.

Bill France arrived in Daytona in 1935 as a mechanic. He raced, promoted, and watched the disorganization of stock car racing - promoters who absconded with purses, inconsistent rules, scattered events. In December 1947, France gathered racing figures at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach to create the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. NASCAR was incorporated in February 1948. France became president, establishing rules, sanctioning races, and building the sport from beach spectacle to national phenomenon. The Streamline Hotel still stands, a shrine to corporate founding.

Beach racing had limits - tides, weather, spectator safety. France conceived a purpose-built superspeedway. Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, a 2.5-mile tri-oval with 31-degree banking - so steep that cars can't run at racing speeds without risking slides toward the infield. The first Daytona 500, that February, ended in a photo finish resolved by examining photographs for three days. The speedway became NASCAR's cathedral, hosting the season-opening Daytona 500 annually. Speeds have exceeded 200 mph. The banking remains gravity-defying. The speedway that replaced beach racing now defines the sport.

Daytona Beach remains motorsports capital. The speedway hosts NASCAR, sports cars, and motorcycles. Bike Week each March draws half a million motorcyclists. The beach itself is still drivable - one of the few in America where cars are permitted on sand, though speeds are now limited. The culture is gasoline, horsepower, and the conviction that speed is its own justification. Critics call it environmentally destructive, economically marginal, culturally regressive. Fans don't care. The thunder of engines at Daytona is American music, born here, refined here, celebrated here.

Daytona Beach is located on Florida's Atlantic coast, roughly 50 miles northeast of Orlando via Interstate 4. Daytona International Speedway offers tours year-round and hosts major races including the Daytona 500 (February). The Motorsports Hall of Fame is on-site. The beach is accessible by car in designated areas; driving is permitted at low speeds. The boardwalk and pier offer classic beach attractions. Bike Week (March) and Biketoberfest (October) transform the city. Lodging is extensive; book well ahead for major racing events. The beach where NASCAR began is still drivable; the speedway where it thrives is still thundering.