NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. began planning the track in 1953 as a way to promote the series, which at the time was racing on the Daytona Beach Road Course. France worked with Daytona Beach engineer Charles Moneypenny, who traveled to Detroit to visit the Ford Proving Grounds and obtained engineering details on high-speed banked corners. France presented the plans to the Daytona Beach city commission, which formed the Daytona Beach Speedway Authority and agreed to lease a 447-acre parcel adjacent to Daytona Beach Municipal Airport for $10,000 a year over a 50-year period.
Funding came from Texas oil millionaire Clint Murchison Sr., who lent France $600,000 and construction equipment, alongside contributions from Pepsi-Cola, General Motors designer Harley Earl, a second mortgage on France's home, and the sale of 300,000 stock shares to local residents. Ground broke on November 25, 1957.
To build the high banking, crews excavated over a million square yards of soil from the infield. The water table caused the resulting hole to fill, forming the 29-acre Lake Lloyd, named after Joseph "Sax" Lloyd, one of the original six members of the Speedway Authority. Twenty-two tons of lime mortar formed the binding base. Moneypenny developed a patented paving method — connecting equipment to bulldozers anchored at the top of the banking — to pave the steep incline without slipping. Moneypenny later used this expertise to design Talladega Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway.
By December 1958 France was running out of money; the Pepsi company provided a substantial sum to complete construction after Coca-Cola declined. France subsequently refused to allow Coca-Cola to be sold at any track he owned for the rest of his life.
The first practice run on the new track was February 6, 1959. On February 22, 1959, 42,000 people attended the inaugural Daytona 500. Its finish required three days to adjudicate: Lee Petty beat Johnny Beauchamp in a photo finish. The track was the fastest to host a stock car race until Talladega Superspeedway opened ten years later.
On April 4, 1959, the track hosted a 100-mile Champ Car event. Jim Rathmann beat Dick Rathmann and Rodger Ward at an average speed of 170.26 mph (274.01 km/h) — the fastest motor race ever recorded at that time. The day brought the circuit's first fatality: George Amick was killed attempting to overtake for third late in the race. On April 5, a sports car event was won by Roberto Mieres and Fritz d'Orey sharing a Porsche RSK.
The tri-oval is 2.500 mi (4.023 km) long with 31-degree banking in the turns and 18-degree banking at the start/finish line. The front straight is 3,800 ft (1,200 m) long and the back straight 3,000 ft (910 m) long. The tri-oval shape was revolutionary as it greatly improved sightlines for fans. It is one of three tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit classified as "drafting tracks," alongside Talladega Superspeedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The track was repaved in 1978. Repaving began again on July 15, 2010, almost a year earlier than planned after the track surface broke apart during the 2010 Daytona 500. The project used an estimated 50,000 tons of asphalt. On October 9, 2013, Colin Braun set a single-lap record of 222.971 mph (358.837 km/h) in a Daytona Prototype prepared by Michael Shank Racing.
The 3.810 mi (6.132 km) road course was built in 1959. It first hosted a three-hour sports car race called the Daytona Continental in 1962. The race length became 2,000 km in 1964, and in 1966 was extended to a 24-hour endurance race known as the Rolex 24 at Daytona. It was shortened to six hours in 1972 and the 1974 race was cancelled entirely.
In 1973, a sharp chicane was added at the end of the backstretch approaching oval turn three. In 1984 and 1985 the layout was modified, re-profiling turns 1 and 2 and moving the International Horseshoe closer to its preceding turns. The chicane was reshaped into a longer three-legged "bus stop" configuration. Further modifications in 2003 widened and repaved the middle leg; by 2010 the third leg was demolished permanently. The current sports car course length is 3.560 mi (5.729 km). On January 21, 2024, Pipo Derani set the fastest recorded lap of the modern road course — a 1:32.656 in a Cadillac V-Series.R during qualifying for the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona.
In 2005, a second infield road course was constructed primarily for motorcycles. Oval turns 1 and 2 were bypassed due to tire wear concerns, giving that configuration a length of 2.950 mi (4.748 km).
In 2020, NASCAR raced the Daytona road course for the first time across all its national series. A modification adding a chicane near the exit of Turn 12 lengthened the course to 3.570 mi (5.745 km).
A supercross track has been built between pit road and the tri-oval section every year since 1971 for the AMA Supercross Championship. The 2008–2013 configurations were designed by former champion Ricky Carmichael. A Daytona Flat Track — a quarter-mile dirt track outside turns 1 and 2 — opened in December 2009. A 0.375 mi (0.604 km) paved short track was constructed along the backstretch, first used in February 2013 for NASCAR's lower series during Speedweeks.
Lights were installed around the track in 1998, making it the world's largest single-lit outdoor sports facility at the time, until surpassed by Losail International Circuit in 2008. Musco Lighting installed the system, which costs approximately $240 per hour in operation. The lighting is limited to 20% of maximum output during the 24-hour race to keep cars dependent on their headlights.
On January 22, 2013, a fourth speedway renovation was unveiled. On July 5, 2013, ground broke on the "Daytona Rising" project. Designed by Barton Malow Company in partnership with Rossetti Architects, the $400 million project removed backstretch seating and completely redeveloped the frontstretch. It provided 101,500 permanent seats with capacity to expand to 125,000, five redesigned fan entrances called "injectors," and improved restrooms and concession stands. The project was completed in January 2016.
The 2004 infield renovation, headed by design firm HNTB, added the Hard Rock Bet Fanzone (originally UNOH Fanzone), a new pedestrian and vehicle tunnel under turn 1, garages, fueling stations, and a walkway along Lake Lloyd. It received a 2005 Award for Excellence from the Design-Build Institute of America.
Forty-one people have been fatally injured in on-track incidents: 24 car drivers, twelve motorcyclists, three go-kart drivers, one powerboat racer, and one track worker. The most notorious death was that of Dale Earnhardt, killed on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 on February 18, 2001. Earnhardt remains the track's most successful driver, with 34 career victories including a 1998 Daytona 500 win and multiple qualifying race and IROC victories.
The track has appeared in multiple video games. In 1994, Sega released the arcade game Daytona USA using Model 2 hardware, with a soundtrack by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi; it is widely considered one of the most successful and influential racing games of all time. The circuit appears in Gran Turismo 5, 6, and 7, and in Forza Motorsport 6, 7, and the 2023 Forza Motorsport.
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