The tri-oval differs from a conventional oval through its distinctive three-point shape: rather than a simple oval with two straights and two turns, the front straight incorporates a slight outward kink near the start-finish line, creating the characteristic "tri" shape. This design, pioneered by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and engineer Charles Moneypenny, greatly improved spectator sight lines along the frontstretch compared to a standard oval.
The circuit measures 2.500 miles with 31 degrees of banking in the turns and 18 degrees of banking at the start-finish line. The front straight is 3,800 feet long and the back straight — referred to as the "superstretch" — is 3,000 feet long. Along with Talladega Superspeedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, Daytona is classified as a drafting track within the NASCAR Cup Series, meaning aerodynamic drafting between cars is a primary competitive factor.
France Sr. began planning the track in 1953 as a replacement for the Daytona Beach Road Course. He worked with city engineer Charles Moneypenny, who traveled to Ford's proving grounds in Detroit to study high-speed banking design. To finance construction, France secured a $600,000 loan from Texas oil magnate Clint Murchison Sr., along with contributions from Pepsi-Cola, General Motors designer Harley Earl, a second mortgage on his home, and the sale of 300,000 stock shares to local residents.
Ground broke on November 25, 1957. Building the banking required excavating over a million square yards of soil from the infield; the high water table caused the excavated area to fill with water, forming Lake Lloyd — named after Joseph "Sax" Lloyd, one of six original Daytona Beach Speedway Authority members — which was stocked with 65,000 fish. Moneypenny invented and later patented a paving method that used bulldozers anchored at the top of the banking to prevent the paving equipment from sliding down the incline. He subsequently applied this technique to Talladega Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway.
The track opened in February 1959, with the inaugural Daytona 500 held on February 22 drawing 42,000 spectators. Lee Petty beat Johnny Beauchamp in a photo finish that required three days to adjudicate.
When it opened, Daytona was the fastest track to host a stock car race, holding that distinction until Talladega Superspeedway opened in 1969. The track was repaved in 1978. A second repave was required after the track surface began breaking apart during the 2010 Daytona 500. Repaving began July 15, 2010, and used approximately 50,000 tons of asphalt over 1.4 million square feet.
The all-time speed record on the tri-oval was set on October 9, 2013, by Colin Braun driving a Daytona Prototype prepared by Michael Shank Racing, who recorded a single-lap speed of 222.971 mph (358.837 km/h).
Lights were installed around the track in 1998 to allow NASCAR's July race to run at night. At the time of installation, Daytona became the world's largest single-lit outdoor sports facility, a distinction it held until Losail International Circuit surpassed it in 2008.
The speedway underwent a major renovation from 2013 to 2016 — the Daytona Rising project — which demolished the backstretch grandstands and completely redeveloped the frontstretch seating at a cost of $400 million. The project was designed by Rossetti Architects and built by Barton Malow Company, adding five expanded fan entrances called "injectors," wider seats, and additional amenities. After the renovations, grandstand capacity stood at 101,500 permanent seats with expansion potential to 125,000.
Daytona's tri-oval has been laser-scanned by iRacing twice — initially in 2008 and again in 2011 after the track repave. Both versions have been made available in official racing series. The circuit also appears in Gran Turismo 5, Gran Turismo 6, Gran Turismo 7, Forza Motorsport 6, Forza Motorsport 7, and the 2023 Forza Motorsport. Sega's 1994 arcade game Daytona USA, developed by the AM2 team using Model 2 hardware, was one of the most influential early racing games and spawned a long-running franchise across arcade and home platforms.