Daytona Beach has been instrumental in the Land Speed Record and the early days of NASCAR. The venue for Sir Henry Segrave’s 211 mph record on 29 March 1927, the road course liked the tarmac of South Atlantic Avenue (highway A1A) and beachfront sands of Ponce Inlet with 180-degree turns at either end. A 3.2-mile layout was initially used before it was lengthened to 4.1 miles after World War II. Bill France sr had moved to Daytona Beach during the Great Depression and he promoted races here from 1938 until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. France formed NASCAR on 21 February 1948 and the road course held an early-season round until Daytona Motor Speedway opened in 1959.
