INTERVIEW Dick M Part1
ann:
The Daytona 200: On the beach
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By Alan Cathcart
s a na tion , Ame ricans like to see
th in gs in terms of superlatives:
th e U .S.A. is th e Grea test Na tio n
o n Earth , h om e of th e World 's Biggest
Sa lad Bar, Arn ie's Worl d -F a m ou s
Kraut Dogs (a hot dog with sa ue rkra u t,
in ca se you wo nder edl ), th e World 's
Most Lege nda ry Sea She ll Mu seu m ,
a n d of co u rse th e G rea tes t L itt le
Wh o reh ouse in Texas . Occasionall y,
j us t o nce in a wh ile. su ch hyp erb ol e
is justified: Daytona Beach , Flo rida,
may not be th e World 's Most Fa mous
Beach by a lo ng wa y. bu t for su re it
deserves it s self-awarded a lter na tive
titl e of th e World Center o f Speed .
Car a nd motorcycle ma n u factu rers
have implicitly recognized th is fac t by
tagg in g innumerab le mod els over th e
yea rs wi th th e 'Da yto na ' nam e, password for performan ce a n d - yes,
speed. T he name o f the Atla ntic coas t
resort h as becom e synony mo us wi th
pure , b li n d ing, fl a t-ou t speed o n
wheels, first o n th e wide, h ard-packed
stra n d wh ich stre tches with on ly the
o ccas iona l inte rrupti on fr om th e
Caroli nas to Miami , but is nowhere
so wide nor so straigh t as a t Da ytona ,
th en la tt erl y o n th e p urpose-bu il t
Da yt on a Int ern ati on a l Speedw a y ,
wh ose 3 1-deg ree banked turns are th e
seco n d steepest in North Am eri ca ,
topped onl y by sister spee dway, T al lad ega , whos e banked turns are a ngled
at 33 deg rees . Yet it was th e neighborin g town of Ormond Beach to th e
north which first hosted speed trial s
A
The first-ever Daytona 200 was held on
the beach course on January 24, 1937.
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