Daytona

I've spent the last week in Daytona, and I couldn't contain my excitement to go to the track.  We drove by it on the way to the hotel, but I wasn't able to head out there until today.  It was well worth the wait, though.  In fact, it was freakin' awesome!

If you want to see all of my photos, check out my Facebook page.  But, since there are over 200, I'm gonna limit it to the highlights. 

Speaking of highlights, my tour guide said that since there's almost always something going on, they're only able to bring the tours out onto the actual track about 60 times a year.  Well, guess whose tour fell on one of those 60 days?  And believe me, TV does not do justice to that 31-degree banking in Turn 3.  Seeing it up close, you get the full grasp for how steep 31 degrees actually is.  It's insane!  (The photo doesn't do it justice, either.)

After we went around Turns 3 and 4 (at the blazing speed of 5 mph), we hit the homestretch, where we went down pit road and got to take pictures at the start/finish line.  And on the homestretch, you really get a good view of the magnificent grandstand, which seats 100,000 fans (roughly the same as the Rose Bowl).

Then it was off to Victory Lane...

...and the press conference room.

Our second-to-last stop was the grandstand itself, where we got the same spectacular view of the track that the fans do on race day.  From the stands, you can really see the ridiculous expanse of the Speedway.  They call it "The World's First Motorsports Stadium," and you can see why.  This place is massive.

Every year after the Daytona 500, they take the winning car and put it on display in the exact same condition as when the checkered flag flew.  In 2017, that was Kurt Busch's No. 41.  They keep the Daytona 500 trophy right next to the car (the winner gets a smaller version).

Before closing it out with photos of the three statues outside Daytona (of NASCAR founder Bill France; his son, Bill France, Jr.; and Dale Earnhardt), two fun facts about the track.  The infield is a mile long.  It was tough to get a photo of it, but that's the distance between Turns 1 & 2 and Turns 3 & 4.  

The second one is something that was totally unexpected, and I found it completely unique.  When we were driving to the hotel on Monday, we drove right past the Speedway.  I almost completely missed it.  It's not like most sports stadiums, where there's nothing around for miles except for parking lots.  Not Daytona.  It's in a totally nondescript location, across the street from a Barnes & Noble, blending in with everything else.

Actually, one final fun fact to close it out.  Our hotel was right on the Atlantic Ocean, along the route of the original Daytona Beach-Road Course.

As you can tell, I had a great time at Daytona.  And I only took a tour!  I can't imagine what a race weekend is like!