90racing is in Daytona this week for WKA Kart Week which includes road racing and sprint kart racing. We wanted to share a bit of history of racing at Daytona Beach!
Before Daytona International Speedway was built in 1959, auto races were contested on the firm sands of Daytona Beach. In 1903, cars were a luxury item that mostly only very wealthy people could afford.
According to Daytona historian Leonard Lempel, “The automobile had been around, but the problem was, it was just a play toy for the rich." When Henry Ford invented the assembly line in 1913, the price of cars dropped significantly. It was at this time that cars became affordable for the middle class.
Enjoy some of these photos from that era! If you plan a trip to Daytona, be sure to visit the restaurant, Racing's North Turn, which is the precise location where the first NASCAR sanctioned stock car and motorcycle racing took place from 1948-58.
