If You’re not First, You’re Last
Ladies and Gentlemen start your engines and head to the Daytona International Speedway! Since 1959, we have gathered this time of year to meet for fast cars and ice cold beers at the Daytona 500. This is the first time since Covid that we have been able to meet at FULL capacity of over 100,000 people at our beloved Speedway!
As a now Daytona native, I have been to a few of the races at this grand racing establishment, and I gotta tell ya, it never gets old. From the micro parties happening in the in-field and golf cart rides through the tunnel, to some of the fastest vehicles on earth dangerously zipping around the track with the wind blowing through my hair...it is an amazing experience! I highly recommend going to one of these awesome racing events at least once.
I initially wanted to attend for the exciting events going on,promoting Reilly Auto Repair, etc., but I became intrigued with these machines capable of climbing speeds up to 200mph, and the cooperative enginuity of the pit crews throwing these tires on the vehicles in seconds. It’s mind blowing, and therefore I think you should go check it out, which is why I attached the schedule below!
The Speedway will have 5 days of events planned leading up to the Daytona 500
- TUESDAY
- 5:05 PM First practice
- Wednesday
- 8:05 PM Qualifying
- Thursday
- 4:00 PM Practice
- 5:00 PM Practice
- 7:00 PM Duel 1
- 8:45 PM Duel 2
- Friday
- 1:30 PM Qualifying
- 3:00 PM Qualifying
- 4:35 PM Practice
- 6:00 PM Practice
- 7:30 PM Next Era Energy 250
- Saturday
- 10:30 AM Final Practice
- 11:35 AM Qualifying
- 1:30 PM Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire
- 5:00 PM Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300
- Sunday
- DAYTONA 500
We did have a chance this year to fix a Chevy Camaro scheduled to race at the Speedway during 2021. We got a phone call from a father/son racing team that was scheduled to race the day after they arrived to the Daytona Beach area. The vehicle was aligned at a race shop in North Carolina, but they were promptly notified that a mistake has been made and the vehicle was aligned with the wrong specs!
This is a HUGE issue. Most importantly, a handful of laps on the track with the wrong spec and you would eat up your 4 tires immediately costing thousands of dollars. We were able to get them in the morning they arrived to the area, re-aligned the vehicle with the racing specs, and they were off! The best part, they called us after they raced and expressed how thankful they were we could take care of them on such short notice. They had a great race and the car handled perfectly!! A huge shoutout to our Reilly Auto Repair team for making it happen and we are proud to help someone have such an experience at our local track.
Also, If you're coming from out of town, I highly suggest staying at the Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel located inside of the One Daytona Shopping Plaza across International Speedway Blvd from the track. It is a luxe hotel geared toward the auto enthusiast like ourselves surrounded by good food and entertainment.