North Turn Beach Parade News Coverage with Photos of RR Members' Vehicles

I see lots of great photos posted by in our RR photo site by Kris Crider of the Ponce Inlet North Turn Parade on the Beach Saturday. I suspect more from others will be forthcoming. Here is some local Daytona coverage of the event from the Daytona Beach News-Journal. You can click on the photo link in the story to see lots of cars. I printed one photo below the story post of a car that looks vaguely familiar for some reason.

The Historic Racing Legends Beach Parade rolls through the North Turn in Ponce Inlet Saturday, February 16, 2013.

News-Journal / Steven Notaras

By Andrew Gant
STAFF WRITER

Published: Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 6:08 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 10:53 p.m.

PONCE INLET -- Last year, when the race cars of NASCAR's earliest days came back to A1A for a parade on half of the old Beach Road Course, it was historic.

Facts

Key Speedweeks dates

Sunday: Daytona 500 qualifying
Monday: UNOH Battle At The Beach (short-track nationals)
Tuesday: UNOH Battle At The Beach
Thursday: Sprint Cup Budweiser Duel
Friday: Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250
Saturday: Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300
Feb. 24: 55th annual Sprint Cup Daytona 500
TICKET INFO
To get all Speedweeks ticket options go online to daytona500.com or call the Speedway ticket office at 800-748-7467.

Photo Galleries

• Historic Racing Legends Beach Parade

Except the other half the beach, which requires certain permits before anyone parades across it was left off the route.

So Saturday's Historic Racing Legends Beach Parade in Ponce Inlet, the sequel to last year's event, was historic and a little more authentic, too.

Because the beach half was back.

"Getting the drivers and their cars out on the beach was really what made it great," said Lars Bieneman, the general manager at Racing's North Turn restaurant, which marks one end of the old track. "And I think it really meant a lot to the drivers, too. It was quite a sight."

Spectators lined the beach and watched along A1A as former racers like Glenn Wood, Marvin Panch, Ray Fox, Russ Truelove and Vicki Wood took a spin around the 2.1-mile loop that held races until Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959.

No race cars have been on it since then, parade organizer Bob Coolidge said. And that segment of the beach has been closed to regular traffic, too, for years.

The 35 or so cars in the lineup included two that actually raced the track in the 1950s: Russ Truelove's 1956 Mercury and Brice Stultz's black Ford.

No big surprises arrived this year Richard Petty showed up at the last one, and stayed to sign autographs for everyone who approached him. But the old beach racers stayed after the parade to sign autographs at the restaurant and take questions from NASCAR historian Buz McKim.

Next up for racing history buffs in Ponce Inlet is "Beach Racing Day at the Lighthouse" from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday. At 11 a.m., Ray Chaike will share stories about NASCAR racing in the 1950s. At 1 p.m., William Lazarus is presenting "Flying Sand, Crashing Cars and Oncoming Tide: Racing on the Beach in Daytona."

That event's included with the price of admission to the lighthouse ($5 for adults, $1.50 for children).

This photo from the Daytona paper sure looks familiar. That Earl Moss #300 tribute modified seems to be a real bopper with perfect stagger!

And here are other photos from the Daytona paper, all credited to Steven Notaras:

Thanks Dave, I was very pleased to see the picture of the now pink # 38 Bell & Bell 36 Ford which is my old # 14 dirt car and the # 20 1935 Chevy coupe which is my current car. Great looking rides all.

Awesome!!!

In fact, a third car of mine ,The # 73 Chevy 1935 Chevy Coupe now owned by the Long Island Flash Richie Gomes will be there tomorrow.The other car in the photo, a historical 1951 Ford is owned by my friend Jim Kaserman. the photo is by Jim Jones photography

Forgot to ask, Bill....

Did the wonderful folks who rolled back time and opened the beach remember to roll back gas prices to around $.299/gal. or so?!

lol, Great question my friend, No they did not. In fact the 110 octane put into the #20 car for the parade was over $8 a gal.. ouch.

Great looking car. A big shout out to all the RR guys/ Bell & Bell Folks who made the long tow down for the parade. I saw Bobby and his entourage in South Georgia just before noon today as I returned from South Carolina on I-95.

Great Pitchers Thanks