City famous for its beach, where the hard-packed sand allows motorized vehicles to drive on the beach
General Information
The beach is open to vehicles from 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. or sundown whichever is earlier from May 1 through October 31, and between sunrise to sunset from November 1 to April 30, tides permitting
There is a year-round $20 per day per vehicle access fee to drive on the beach; this includes one same-day re-entry. Annual beach passes are $25 for Volusia County residents and $100 for non-residents
The city is historically known for its beach, where the hard-packed sand allows motorized vehicles to drive on the beach in restricted areas. Daytona Beach has over 23 miles of white sandy beaches open to pedestrians without time restrictions. This hard-packed sand made Daytona Beach a mecca for motorsports, and the old Daytona Beach Road Course hosted races for over 50 years. This was replaced in 1959 by Daytona International Speedway. The city is also the headquarters for NASCAR.
Daytona Beach hosts large groups of out-of-towners during the year, who visit the city for various events, notably Speedweeks in early February when over 200,000 NASCAR fans come to attend the season-opening Daytona 500. Other events include the NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 race in August, Bike Week in early March, Biketoberfest in late October, and the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race in January.
Daytona's wide beach of smooth, compacted sand attracted automobile and motorcycle races beginning in 1902, as pioneers in the industry tested their inventions. By the 1920s, it was dubbed "The World's Most Famous Beach". On March 8, 1936, the first stock car race was held on the Daytona Beach Road Course, located in the present-day Town of Ponce Inlet. In 1958, William France Sr. and NASCAR created the Daytona International Speedway to replace the beach course. Automobiles are still permitted on most areas of the beach, at a maximum speed of 10 mph.
Originally known as "Broadwalk", common usage gradually changed the name to the boardwalk. The first facility constructed was the 48 foot by 114 foot natural coquina rock bandshell which seats 4,500. Open air concerts, as well as other programs, are still presented in the bandshell. The other structures in the boardwalk area are a clock tower, kiosk, concession facilities, and an elevated walk from Earl to Ora Streets. MTV Spring Break used to hold concerts at the Bandshell in Daytona.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Daytona Beach, Florida" which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
