The Daytona 200 is an annual
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
road racing
Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...
competition held in early spring at the
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...
in
Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
The race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the
American Motorcyclist Association
The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is an American nonprofit organization of more than 200,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights. Its mission statement is "to promo ...
(AMA).
The original course used the beach itself before moving to a paved closed circuit in 1961. The Daytona 200 reached its zenith of worldwide popularity in the 1970s when the race attracted the largest crowds of any AMA race along with some of the top rated international motorcycle racers.
History
Dirt track origins
The origins of the Daytona 200 began in 1932 when the Southeastern Motorcycle Dealers Association organized a 200-mile
dirt track race held on the old
Vanderbilt Cup
The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing.
History
An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County, New York, Nassa ...
course in
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
.
Competitors raced on Class C motorcycles typically used in the
AMA Grand National Championship
American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including mile dirt track r ...
.
Following a second Savannah race held in 1933, the 1934 event was moved to the Camp Foster Work Camp located on the
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
near
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
.
The competition quickly outgrew the narrow, Jacksonville course and after the 1935 race, the event returned to Savannah in 1936.
Beach racing
Daytona Beach had been used by
land speed record
The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...
competitors since 1902 however, by 1935 the rutted beach course began losing its appeal in favor of the
Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bur ...
.
In an effort to boost the local economy, race promoter
Bill France Sr. arranged for the Savannah 200 to be moved to the
Daytona Beach Road Course
The Daytona Beach and Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It originally became famous as the location where 15 world land speed records were set.
Beach and ro ...
in 1937.
There were no races held between 1942 and 1946 due to wartime restrictions during the Second World War. In 1948, a new beach course was used because of urban developments along the beach forced the race organizers to move the event further south, towards
Ponce Inlet
Ponce Inlet is a town in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,032 at the 2010 census.
The town of Ponce Inlet is located on the southern tip of a barrier island, south of Daytona Beach and Daytona Beach Shores.
Several ...
.
The new course length was increased from the previous 3.2 miles to .
By the mid-1950s, it became increasingly complicated to run the race on the beach course due to the rapid urban growth of the Daytona Beach area.
Move to the Daytona International Speedway
France looked for alternatives and negotiated with the city of Daytona Beach to purchase a site near the Daytona airport.
He arranged financing and in 1957, construction began on the Daytona International Speedway, a paved, oval-shaped circuit with steep bankings that permitted higher speeds.
The track opened in 1959 and France convinced AMA officials to move the beach race to the Speedway in 1961.
Competitors adapted to the new, paved track surface by switching from dirt track motorcycles to road racing motorcycles similar to those used in
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...
.
Safety concerns kept motorcycle racers from using the daunting 31 degree banking at the Daytona International Speedway for the first three years so, a race course was created using most of the track infield along with the tri-oval section where the finish line is located in front of the spectator stands.
International prominence
Initially, the traditionalists who favored the old beach race stayed away from the new race at the Speedway and attendance in the early years suffered.
However, France continued to promote the race and by the early 1970s, the Daytona 200 attracted the largest crowds of any AMA race and the event took on international prominence.
The race became the centerpiece of what became known as
Daytona Beach Bike Week
Daytona Beach Bike Week, also called Daytona Bike Week, is a motorcycle event and rally held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. Since 2021, events have been added in DeLeon Springs. Approximately 500,000 people make their way to the rally area f ...
, featuring motorcycle competitions besides road racing such as
motocross
Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom.
History
Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...
and dirt track racing. Attending the annual event became known as a rite of spring for thousands of motorcyclists seeking to escape the colder northern climes. At the peak of the event's popularity in the early 1970s, chartered airliners were used to bring race fans from Europe to Daytona Beach.
In 1969
Yvon Duhamel
Yvon Duhamel (October 17, 1939 – August 17, 2021) was a French Canadian professional motorcycle and snowmobile racer. A six-time winner of the White Trophy, the highest award in Canadian motorcycle racing, he was one of the most accomplished ...
riding a
Yamaha TD3
Yamaha TD2 is an air-cooled road racing motorcycle made by Yamaha produced between 1969 and 1970. The equivalent 350cc version was called TR2
Development
The TD1 bikes had a significant impact on British 250cc class racing in the middle-1960s ...
became the first rider to qualify for the event with a lap speed above 150 mph.
Duhamel’s pole position on the tiny 350cc Yamaha motorcycle against the larger 750cc four-strokes marked the beginning of the two-stroke era in AMA road racing competitions.
Don Emde Don Emde (born February 16, 1951 in San Diego, California) is an American motorcycle racer, author and publisher. In 1972 he won the Daytona 200 motorcycle race in only 56 laps. In 1999, he was inducted to the American Motorcyclist Association's Mot ...
became the first competitor to win the Daytona 200 on a two stroke motorcycle when he won the 1972 event riding a Yamaha TR3.
His victory marked the beginning of thirteen consecutive Yamaha victories at the Daytona 200 including nine consecutive victories by the dominant
Yamaha TZ750
The Yamaha TZ750 is a Production vehicle, series production two-stroke race motorcycle built by Yamaha Motor Company, Yamaha to compete in the Formula 750 class in the 1970s. ''Motorcyclist (magazine), Motorcyclist'' called it "the most notorious a ...
. Emde's 1972 victory marked the first father and son winners of the Daytona 200 as his father, Floyd Emde won the 1948 Daytona 200 beach race on an
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
.
When the popularity of motocross surged in the United States in the late 1960s, France added a professional motocross race to the 1971 Daytona Beach Bike Week schedule.
The 1972 race was held at Daytona International Speedway on an artificial track on the grass surface between the main grandstand and the pit lane.
The event paved the way for artificial, stadium-based motocross events known as
supercross
The AMA Supercross Championship (commercially known as Monster Energy AMA Supercross) is an American motorcycle racing series. Founded by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1974, the AMA Supercross Championship races are held from ...
to be held in major league sports stadiums across the United States and Canada.
In 1973, the reigning 250cc world champion,
Jarno Saarinen
Jarno Karl Keimo Saarinen (11 December 1945 – 20 May 1973) was a Finnish professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In the early 1970s, he was considered one of the most promising and talented motorcycle racers of his era until he was kil ...
, became the first European rider to win the Daytona 200.
The 1974 victory by 15-time world champion
Giacomo Agostini
Giacomo Agostini (; born 16 June 1942) is an Italian multi-time world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Nicknamed Ago, he amassed 122 Grand Prix wins and 15 World Championship titles. Of these, 68 wins and 8 titles came in the 500  ...
helped cement the Daytona 200's reputation as one of the world's most prestigious motorcycle races.
In 1975, an unknown rookie rider named
Johnny Cecotto
Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer. He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the youn ...
accomplished one of the most impressive performances in the history of the event when, he rode from last place on the starting grid to finish the race in third place, passing half the field of competitors on the first lap alone.
The success of the Daytona 200 spawned imitations in Europe such as the
Imola 200 The Imola 200 (also known as the 200 Miglia) is a motorcycle race held annually at Imola. The race originally ran as a modern motorcycle race from 1972 to 1985. In 2010, the Imola 200 Miglia Revival began as a classic bike race.
Background
In r ...
and the
Paul Ricard 200.
Safety issues and diminished status
As motorcycle engine technology transitioned from the 60 horsepower four-stroke motorcycles of the 1960s, to the 100 horsepower two-stroke motorcycles of the 1970s, it became apparent that motorcycle tire technology was lagging behind engine performance on the track's banking.
In an effort to slow the fastest bikes down and save on tire wear, a
chicane
A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...
was added in 1973 at the end of the Daytona back straight.
The dangers that motorcycle racers were exposed to was highlighted in 1975 when a documentary crew were filming as
Barry Sheene
Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing even ...
crashed on the banked track at over 170 mph when his rear tire failed.
As speeds continued to increase, organizers eventually moved away from high powered Grand Prix-style motorcycles to highly modified production motorcycles known as
Superbikes in 1985, which led to a global trend of Superbike racing that by 1988 would lead to the development of an FIM-sanctioned
Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing.
The championship was founded i ...
in 1988.
The loss of Grand Prix machinery meant that fewer international competitors were interested in entering the race and, began a slow decline in the event's prestige.
By the late 1990s, even the production based Superbikes were overheating the tires on the banking.
To keep Superbikes in the Daytona 200, the West Banking was eliminated to reduce the tire issues that had been plaguing the motorcycles.
However, the owners of Daytona International Speedway were unsatisfied with the banking being omitted from the course so, a compromise was reached after the 2004 season reducing the size and power of the bikes by going to a
Supersport-based class (known as "
AMA Formula Xtreme Formula Xtreme was a professional racing class sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association. Formula Xtreme was part of the AMA's road racing series, which also included AMA Superbike Championship, AMA Supersport Championship, and AMA Supers ...
"), and putting both bankings back into the race course.
The Supersport class race kept the distance, but the Superbike race was converted to a standard round of the national championship. In 2009, the Supersport class for this was renamed
AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike Championship The AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike Championship was a motorcycle racing series run by AMA Pro Racing. The category was similar to the Formula Xtreme class, allowing a wide range of engine types and displacements.
The flagship race for the series was th ...
.
The changes left spectators confused as to why the most powerful motorcycles were replaced by a lesser class in the premier Daytona race.
The changes also meant that the top
factory backed
In motorsports, a factory-backed racing team or driver is one sponsored by a vehicle manufacturer in official competitions. As motorsport competition is an expensive endeavor, some degree of factory support is desired and often necessary for suc ...
riders would be excluded from the race.
The race's future was clouded with the circuit's inability to negotiate with the Dorna-aligned
Wayne Rainey
Wayne Wesley Rainey (born October 23, 1960) is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he won the 500cc World Championship three times and the Daytona 200 once. He was characterized by his s ...
KRAVE organization that organizes the
MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is the organization that promotes the AMA Superbike Series since 2015. Sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), it features six classes of road racing: S ...
motorcycle racing series in the United States beginning in 2015 when MotoAmerica decided not to place Daytona on the 2015 schedule, considerably important since Daytona's 200 mile format was going against the grain of typical 110-km (68 mile) races that are typical of most Superbike races in the world, as MotoAmerica's future plans to adopt the Spanish CEV championship format of FIM Moto3 and Moto2 classes (the Spanish championship is also a Dorna-promoted championship, and most recent riders come from CEV to Moto3), went against the traditions of American motorcycle racing. On December 1, 2014, American Sportbike Racing Association, parent company of
Championship Cup Series
The Championship Cup Series (CCS) is an American motorcycle racing sanctioning body. The American Sportbike Racing Association LLC (ASRA) is the parent company of CCS.
Headquartered in New Freedom , PA , CCS has been in operation since 1984, fou ...
(CCS), which sanctions the Fall Cycle Scene autumn events at Daytona, agreed to sanction the Daytona 200 with Supersport motorcycles racing 57 laps on the full motorcycle layout.
Daytona International Speedway Enters Into Sanction Agreement for Daytona 200
/ref>
Steve Rapp
Steve Rapp (born November 18, 1971 in Lafayette, California) is an American motorcyclist who turned professional in 1996. He races in the Motoamerica, MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Championship aboard a BMW S1000RR.
Career
Rapp gets wildcard ra ...
's 2007 victory was the first win for Kawasaki since 1995 and the first win for a privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
rider since John Ashmead won in 1989.
The race was cancelled in 2020 for the first time since World War II because of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
after the Rudy Gobert
Rudy Gobert-Bourgarel ( ; born June 26, 1992) is a French professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the French national team in their international competitions. ...
incident took place during the Wednesday of the race meeting, and officials moved the entire race meeting to Biketoberfest
Biketoberfest is an annual motorcycle rally held in the fall in Daytona Beach, Florida since 1991 or 1992. In 1992 it was known as "Daytona Fall Tour"; in 1993, it started to be called Biketoberfest, and is now known as the "little brother" of th ...
with the Fall Cycle Scene at the Speedway. When the city cancelled Biketoberfest, the feature was cancelled, but not the remainder of the fall race meeting.
Conducted despite the pandemic, the 2021 race saw a thrilling finish line victory by rising star, American Brandon Paasch. Coming out of the final pit stop six seconds behind race leader Sean Dylan Kelly, Paasch made a thrilling charge to catch the leader, with a daring pass at the line to win by .03 second.
For the 2022 edition, MotoAmerica replaced ASRA as the sanctioning body, with the race becoming a non-points race under updated Supersport rules.
The race has been one of the toughest in American motorcycling because of its endurance-like qualities of pit stops for tires and fuel, and safety car periods, and nine FIM world champions, including seven 500cc/MotoGP World Champions—six Americans and one Italian—have won the race. Of recent American world champions, only Kenny Roberts Jr.
Kenneth Leroy Roberts Jr. (born July 25, 1973, in Mountain View, California) is an Americans, American former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing, road racer who won the 2000 Grand Prix motorcycle racing se ...
did not win the Daytona 200. Finnish and Venezuelan FIM world champions in smaller classes have also won the 200.
Scott Russell and Miguel Duhamel
Miguel Duhamel (born May 26, 1967) is a Canadian former professional motorcycle racer. He is the son of Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame member Yvon Duhamel. He is tied with Toni Elias for the fourth-winningest rider in the AMA Superbike series w ...
are tied for most Daytona 200 wins at five each. Russell, known by the nickname "Mr. Daytona" because of his achievements at the famed track, won all his Daytona races in the Superbike class (750-1000cc). Duhamel's fifth victory came in the Supersport-based classes beginning in 2005.
Daytona 200 Winners
See also
*Daytona Beach Bike Week
Daytona Beach Bike Week, also called Daytona Bike Week, is a motorcycle event and rally held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. Since 2021, events have been added in DeLeon Springs. Approximately 500,000 people make their way to the rally area f ...
*Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
, NASCAR's equivalent, but longer
*Imola 200 The Imola 200 (also known as the 200 Miglia) is a motorcycle race held annually at Imola. The race originally ran as a modern motorcycle race from 1972 to 1985. In 2010, the Imola 200 Miglia Revival began as a classic bike race.
Background
In r ...
, former European equivalent
References
External links
AMA Pro Road Racing event page
LIFE at Daytona: Motorcycle Madness on the Florida Sands
- 1948 slideshow by ''Life magazine
''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...
''
{{Authority control
Motorcycle races in the United States
Motorsport in Daytona Beach, Florida
Recurring sporting events established in 1937
1937 establishments in Florida
Superbike racing
American Motorcyclist Association