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How It All Started |
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| Today when we think about Daytona it’s the Speedway that comes to mind. With the excellent story by Lonestar on Bill France Sr. telling how Nascar started she challenged me to do something on the early years. Most think it all started in Daytona but Ormond Beach as you will read took the lead. My story ends and Lonestar’s begins. Many of the building in the story are still standing today and others only have plaque to show what once was. I hope you enjoy it. Chevytech How it all started At the dawn of the 20th Century, many dignitaries wintered in Ormond Beach at the Ormond Hotel. This site is now the Ormond Heritage Condominium, on East Granada Boulevard and the Halifax River . One of several hotels built by Henry Flagler to compliment his train service to the Sunshine State , the Ormond Hotel was frequented by such people as Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Thomas Edison, and John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller subsequently purchased a home across the street from the Ormond Hotel and called it The Casements. Today this home has been renovated as a community cultural center. The original cupola from the Ormond Hotel is the centerpiece of Fortunato Park on the Halifax River . The automobile had just been invented and men were searching for places where they could drive on hard surfaces. The existing "roads" were horse trails and posed problems for the cars. In 1902, a retired businessman named J.F. Hathaway distributed photographs of the beach and sent them to leading automobile journals and newspapers along with a story extolling the hard packed sand of Ormond Beach as the ideal race course. This information was picked up by William J. Morgan who was a correspondent for Automobile Magazine. Morgan arrived in Ormond in February, 1903 and met John Anderson and Joseph Price, managers of the Ormond Hotel. The three men decided that a winter automobile racing event was the perfect promotional tool for the Hotel. Morgan secured the help of a hastily formed Daytona and Seabreeze Automobile Association and the plans were underway. Without much lead time the turnout for that first race series was small. On March 26, 1903 the first timed trials were held. Entrants were Alexander Winton in his Bullet no. 1 and H. T. Thomas driving the Ransom E. Olds' Pirate. That day the men drove in separate classes, but two days later they met in the Ormond Challenge Cup. After an exciting race, which the Bullet won by one-fifth of a second, all agreed that the sands of Daytona and Ormond were the perfect place for racing. Ormond Beach had earned its title as the "Birthplace of Speed." The newly formed Florida East Coast Automobile Association built a clubhouse at the Silver Beach approach, and this became the starting point for the runs headed northward. Succeeding years saw an influx of millionaires such as William K. Vanderbilt Jr. and Henry Ford. The course was expanded to include a run all the way to Ponce Inlet and back to Ormond Beach . The Ormond Garage, known as "Gasoline Alley," was built in the summer of 1904 to accommodate the racers and their mechanics. A plaque commemorates this site. The garage burned to the ground on January 7, 1976. At the time of the fire the building was being used by Oceanside Country Club to house the grounds equipment. It was never rebuilt and a SunTrust bank is now on that site. A garage to this day on W. Granada Blvd. currently bears the name “Ormond Garage.” This was built in 1919 by Robert E. Lowe. The management of the original Ormond Garage did not want repairs done there, so Lowe, a mechanic, moved west of the bridge and built the brick building which still exists. In its heyday, it also bore the name Ormond Garage. Presently it contains a large collection of period artifacts and pictures of the famous cars and people who frequented the garage. The winter racing series continued in Ormond Beach until 1910. Motorcycles, which were a part of the racing events from its beginning in 1903, took center stage in 1907. That year Glenn H. Curtiss in a V-8 motorcycle was the fastest vehicle through the Measured Mile. Also that year, race officials decided that future events would place more emphasis on long distance racing. The 1908 series was highlighted by a 300 mile long race won by Emanuel Cedrino in a 60 hp Fiat Cyclone. (Shortly after the 1909 event, a 2 1/2 mile race track was completed in Indianapolis). In 1910, Barney Oldfield was the star driving the Lightning Benz to a new world record, however the prestigious 300 mile race was cancelled because of heavy rains. By 1911, the Florida East Coast Automobile Association was unwilling to support the races financially and a rival Jacksonville club took over the dates normally planned for the Daytona Ormond event. Not to be outdone, W. J. Morgan staged a competing event in Daytona involving the new airplanes. These factors coupled with the running of the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 and the outbreak of World War I spelled an end to the pioneer era of automobile racing. The men and machines continued to come to Daytona Beach to test their skill against the timer's clock, but the extended runs were to take a hiatus until 1936. One by one the world speed records were pushed higher and higher as the cars became more powerful and equipped with new technology. In 1920 Tommy Milton first broke the 150 mph record in the Duesenberg Special. |
1922 featured Sig Haughdahl who reached a speed of 180 mph which exceeded three miles a minute. Because of the larger vehicles, the Measured Mile course was moved southward. Beginning at Ponce Inlet, the cars accelerated for four miles with one mile timed, four miles were left to slow to a stop. This course ended three miles south of the Main Street Pier. In 1927, one event made history off the track which would forever change the face of racing in Daytona Beach . An Englishman, Major H.O. D. Segrave arrived to chase the 200 mph barrier. Previous speed records had been sanctioned by the Automobile Association of America (AAA), but were not certified world wide because they were not monitored by the Federation Internationale de L'Automobile in Paris which was the recognized governing authority. Segrave successfully petitioned the FIA to certify the AAA as the official governing body for the timed events on the beach at Daytona. This momentous change propelled the area into the international spotlight. In those days, the fire station on Beach Street and Orange Avenue (which is still used today as Daytona Fire Station #1) would sound its siren to signal that a speed record attempt was imminent. This brought out the National Guard, the Police, city engineers and electricians, Sheriff's Deputies and the AAA officials with their electric timing devices. Segrave was the first driver in America to wear a safety helmet. On March 29, 1927 he drove the Sunbeam Mystery "S" 203.79 mph. It was during this period that the beach was dubbed "The World's Most Famous Beach " by one of its city fathers and strongest supporters, Jerome A. Burgman. In 1928, Ray Keech recaptured the world speed record for the United States achieving 207.552 mph. Frank Lockhart set a land speed record run in 1928 for a single engine car at 198.22 mph. In accordance with AAA rules, drivers had to make two runs; one northward and one driving south to eliminate any wind advantage. The speed record is the average of those two runs. By far the most famous driver to challenge the world speed records at Daytona Beach was Sir Malcolm Campbell. A former military man and insurance writer for Lloyd's of London, he was a country gentleman who was obsessed with speed. Bringing a total of five Bluebird's to Daytona from 1928 through 1935, he sought to break the 300 mph barrier. Campbell 's Measured Mile course was an eleven mile stretch which began north of the Main Street Pier and ended near Ponce Inlet. On the morning of his last record run, the weather threatened, and Campbell initially decided to take the day off. But as he watched the beach conditions later on that day, he changed his mind and decided to make his attempt. The great siren at the fire house whined and the various officials made their way to the beach. Guided by a black oil line in the sand and a large bull's eye target in the Measured Mile, Campbell 's average time that day was 276.82 mph. Although no one knew it at the time this was to be his last challenge at Daytona Beach . A year later he broke the 300 mph barrier at Bonneville Salt Flats , Utah . Without his knowledge, Campbell's record breaking run that day was to change the course of racing in Daytona Beach once more as a young mechanic, William Henry Getty France, stood on the beach and saw the impressive run. Although Campbell and others had moved to Utah , city officials sought an event to replace the winter racing series. Sig Haughdahl suggested creating an oval track which would run half on the beach and half on A1A. He measured off 1.5 miles on the road adjacent to where Campbell 's Measured Mile had been, and 1.5 miles on the beach. He then directed a north and south turn to be cut through the sand dunes on either end creating a 3.2 mile oval. The course ran south of Dunlawton to Demotte Ave. and extended north to the area across from Daytona Beach Shores City Hall . Haughdahls' first race was sanctioned by the AAA on March 8, 1936. By 1957 the end of beach racing was in sight. Daytona Beach was expanding ever southward, and the beach conditions were unpredictable. Although the crowds were growing, many of them could watch the race without paying an admission to the viewing grandstands. In 1958 the State Legislature established the Daytona Beach Racing and Recreational Facilities District with the idea to construct a superspeedway. Headed by J. Saxton Lloyd, the District obtained land in the Municipal Airport tract on a 99 year lease and began to recruit someone to build a speedway on the site. An economic slowdown in the mid-'50's brought no takers for their offer, and when the cutoff date of November 8, 1957 was left unanswered, they agreed to lease the property to a new corporation headed by William H. G. France. Ground breaking was in 1956 and construction began on the new superspeedway in the summer of 1958. The first Daytona 500 was run on the new track in 1959. Designed by Charles H. Moneypenney, a former City of Daytona Beach engineer, he had no blueprint to refer to and accomplished the monumental task through years of research. Bill France insisted that the track be visible from every seat. Hence the 31* high banked turns and the distinctive tri-oval design which, from the air, resembles a big "D." At that time nobody had thought about paving at such angles until a young man named Red Pugh designed a rail system on the top of the high banks to suspend the paving equipment. Red also oversaw the construction of the first section of the now Winston Tower and in the groundbreaking at Talladega in 1968. Red remained on staff at the speedway until his death in 1982. During the Sport Car and Motorcycle races the high banks are used in combination with the infield course and Daytona becomes a 3.56 mile course. |
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