PONCE INLET, Fla. - Thereis probably no one in the world who follows past history any more than a race fan. If one fan gets with another fan, soon the topic will come up about racing in the past and if there are other fans within hearing distance, a real round-table discussion will begin. The old-timers can hash out stories from the past and the younger fans can't seem to be able to learn enough about the happening from yesteryear. Vintage car shows are held all over the country and several websites have cropped up in the past few yearsthat are dedicated to racing in the 40's through the 80's. One popular website has complete records of almost every race run since the 40's.
Just as history buffs like to trace paths of the early settlers through land, mountains and water, racing fans and drivers will get a chance to follow the path taken by hundreds of drivers who raced on the beach/road course in what is now known as Ponce Inlet. For the first time in years, the Town Ponce Inlet, Volusia County and the Racer's North Turn Restaurant have teamed together and will open the entire course to more than 50 drivers in pre-'59 cars, who will make another trip up and down memory lane.
The event will be held on Saturday, February 16th, is free to the general public and there in no entry fee for entering a car in the parade.The parade will leave from in front of the North Turn Restaurant, located at 4511 South Atlantic Avenue in Ponce Inlet at 9a.m. The parade route will follow the NASCAR race course south on Atlantic Ave (Hwy A1A) through the South Turn onto the beach.
Following the parade, race cars will be on display in the Racing's North Turn Restaurant parking lot. Invited racers and others from the Beach Racing days will be signing autographs and will be interviewed inside the restaurant by NASCAR historian Buz McKim.Spectators may park in the vacant parking lot at the corner of Toronita Avenue and Highway A1A and a complimentary trolley shuttle from the parking lot to the Racing's North Turn Restaurant and back will run from 8a.m.until noon. This project has taken a lot of work and the full support of thetown and county in obtaining a permit to drive north on this section of the beach.
The event is open to race cars and race car replicas from model years 1958 and older. Modified cars with fenders are welcome and open-wheel race cars that date from the beach racing era are also welcome as well as motorcycles from that era.
Cars brought in by trailers and haulers are urged to unload and park the trailers and haulers at the Ponce InletTown Hall locatedon the west side of4100 South Atlantic Avenue, which is north of the North Turn Restaurant. Cars should arrive by 7:30a.m. and should be staged for the parade in a parking lot across from the North Turn Restaurant by 8a.m. A 15-minutemandatory drivers meeting will begin promptly at 8:30a.m. This meeting is a requirement in order to obtain the permit to drive on the beach. If you miss the meeting, you will not be permitted on the beach. The parade will roll off at 9a.m.
At this time it is undetermined whether another parade will be held on the beach/road course in future years, so for what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to follow the path of legends from the 40's and 50's era should not pass this one up.
Ponce Inlet is located 10 miles south of Daytona Beach on Hwy A1A.
For more info, please contact Bob Coolidge at 386-956-3465 or Rhonda Glasnak at Racing's North Turn Restaurant. Telephone: 386-566-1167
updated by @dargan-watts: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM