The Daytona Beach Road Course is one of the most historic raceways in America. Although long ago replaced by the Daytona International Speedway, the original site of local stock-car racing was critical to the modern development of NASCAR.

Designed by local racer Sig Haugdahl at the bequest of the city, the first official race at the Daytona course took place in 1934. The course began on Historic A1A and headed north until turning out onto the sandy beach and looping back south towards the stat line, a total of about 3.2 miles. At this time, most racetracks in American were completely unpaved, so having an area to race along a stretch of paved road made the course very popular among drivers.

Due to disappointing ticket sales and complications with the race, the city of Daytona never again sponsored the event and management of the race passed to future NASCAR founder William France Sr.

During World War II, races at the course dwindled bu resumed in 1946. At this time, William France began working on the development of a national association aimed at protecting drivers. On February 21, 1948 France officially formed the National Association of Stock Car Racing and Daytona Road Course became its premier venue until a new modern track was completed in North Carolina.

Races continued at the track until 1958 when France and NASCAR completed the construction of the new Daytona International Speedway. Although the races have ended, the memory of the track lives on as a reminder of the early days of stock car racing in America.