"International Speedway, Daytona Beach,... " a Daytona Beach Travel Page by tony248

In February, if someone says they went to Daytona, the usual assumption is that they went to the Daytona International Speedway to see the Daytona 500 race in the Sprint Cup Series. Well, we went to Daytona but we saw the Gatorade 150’s instead of the “500” and this will be my attempt to offer some things to think about in case you are planning to attend an event here.

Tickets. There are several choices ranging from single event tickets to seven-day packages. There are also “enhancements” you can buy that allow you access to things like tours and hospitality tents. What you see and where you seat is located depends on how much you are willing to spend and wither there are any tickets left. It is almost impossible to get good seats for the "500". Past season seat holders get to renew their tickets over and over so good seats seldom become available. Ebay and ticket outlets are a good source if you can't get tickets from the official ticket seller. Do not buy tickets from strangers on the street unless you are prepared to buy forged tickets. If you buy from someone else, verify the tickets with the ticket office ahead of time. There are markings on the tickets to help prevent fraud. You can also find ticket resellers located in buses and vans outside the track if the race is not a sellout. Tickets can be purchased for all NASCAR races at nascar.com. Just look for the 'Tickets' tab for information about buying online for over the phone.

Seating. We have been to the track several times. The first time was a disappointment because we could not see much of the race. Our seats were on the extreme left of the grandstand and about half way up. Good view of turns 3 and 4 but nothing else. This year (2004) our seats were on the extreme right of the grandstand and on the top row. Excellent! We had a complete and unobstructed view of the entire track. There is seating higher up but I found out that those are for seven-day ticket holders or those with a lot more money for tickets than we had.

Daytona International Speedway

This is the front section of the Fan Zone. Daytona Speedway created the Fan Zone to give guests access to the garage area. What you see here is the walkway built over the front wing of the garages. You can see cars and drivers moving around down below in "Gasoline Alley".

The area below the walkway is the garage itself. All of the stalls have had windows installed so you can see into the actual work area. You can also pass items through to get autographs.