Comments on: Daytona Beach Memorial Stadium

By: Jerry

Jerry — Wed, 09 May 2018 22:48:08 +0000

I lived a few minutes away from the stadium and worked selling cokes in hte stands for several years.
The track was a reddish Dirt with a bit of gravel mixed in.
When the midgets & motorcycles raced, the dirt would start out flat and get piled up against the walls, deeper and deeper, as the race went on. This had two effects: the track got effectively Narrower and harder to Pass on. the Turns got used a lot more as drivers tried to use the dirt against the walls as a “Bank” to aid them in passing.

You could also, if you knew where to look, see the places where cars had gone Through the wall (it was mostly concrete block except in front of the grandstands.) and it had been rebuilt and painted over.

By: Rapid Rick

Rapid Rick — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 18:25:56 +0000

Charlie Jarzombek came from LI-New York for the last NASCAR Styled Modified show before they went to the big track for events on the road course. He won that show but I am unsure of the date.

By: Greg Sangrey

Greg Sangrey — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 01:25:14 +0000

I ran Karts there in the 80’s. We would Travel from Lancaster PA to run the speedway with the single engine sprint kart and head to Memorial Stadium and run both the single and duel modified I ran on dirt back home. I remember one year of absolute racing pain. Our motorhome broke down in VA and we just missed our class at Daytona. We went to MS that night and had a bunch of NY boys in the dual class painfully lapped by 3 when I blew the left engine. Maintained the lead till the right engine blew with 2 to go. Then, was in 3rd in the 100cc single class, took the high side to pass him with the leader in view and he turned up on me going into turn 1, we locked wheels and went flipping into the wall at 90mph. Ill never forget that 12ft white block wall. They hauled him to the hospital. I tried to finish bot the frame was that twisted I would turn left and go right. Total bust 1300 miles away from home and would do it again in a heartbeat. I wish I had pictures of that track.

By: Jere Humeston

Jere Humeston — Sat, 01 Nov 2014 19:45:51 +0000

I went there in 67 or 69 during speedweeks. I went to grade school next door and lived a half mile away. I was 7 or 9 years old and it was cold so I hung around one of the drivers haulers outside the track (they had a fire barrel ) and since I didn’t have a ticket they would let me go in with them when they brought the cars on the track. His name was Red Lenahan I think and he was my new hero for getting me in for free.

By: rick gosney

rick gosney — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 18:41:47 +0000

They raced full sized late models there in the early 70,s. Bobby Brack won some races there.

By: Dave Garrison

Dave Garrison — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 16:16:00 +0000

My dad and I were there in 1970 for a couple of the midget shows. Memory (fuzzy) tells me they were pretty good but we didn’t have any midget shows close to home back then.