Florida Motorsports: Daytona, Sebring and Homestead

Florida's three major tracks are Daytona International Speedway in Volusia County, Sebring International Raceway in Sebring and Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida, and each one anchors a different kind of racing.

Daytona International Speedway, which calls itself the World Center of Racing, posts a 2027 calendar that runs from the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January through the Daytona 500 in February, Bike Week and the Daytona 200 in March and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in August (Daytona International Speedway). Sebring International Raceway is the home of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, an endurance race whose 75th running is set for March 20, 2027 (Sebring International Raceway). Homestead-Miami Speedway posts NASCAR Championship Weekend for November 6 to 8, the first time the title race has returned to South Florida since 2019 (Homestead-Miami Speedway).

The tracks differ in shape as much as in schedule. Homestead-Miami Speedway lists its track as a 1.5 mile asphalt oval with 18 to 20 degree variable banking (Homestead-Miami Speedway track facts), while Daytona International Speedway is a tri-oval with 31 degree banked turns (Volusia County history).

The next headline race at Daytona International Speedway is the 69th Daytona 500 on February 21, 2027, preceded by the Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 28 to 31, 2027 (Daytona International Speedway).

The Daytona 500 ticket options on the speedway site include a single Sunday seat or a four day package that adds the Duel At Daytona, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and an O'Reilly Auto Parts and ARCA Menards Series doubleheader (Daytona International Speedway). Bike Week At Daytona is billed as 10 days of racing, demo rides and the area's largest Motorcycle Marketplace. The speedway lists 1-800-PITSHOP for tickets and questions.

Daytona International Speedway offers free parking in General Lots 7 and 8 with a shuttle from Lot 7, paid lots closer in, and guided tours that leave daily from 9:30 AM through 3:00 PM (speedway parking guide; speedway tours).

The speedway's parking guide lists paid Lots 1, 4, 3 and 8 as the closest access, reserved ADA parking in Lots 1 and 4 with general ADA parking in Lot 6, and dedicated paid motorcycle parking in Lot 4A near the entrance. The shuttle runs to One Daytona from Lot 7 at the intersection of Clyde Morris and Jimmy Ann Drive. The official rideshare pickup and drop off is near Lot 1 off the eastbound frontage street of International Speedway Boulevard. Infield campers enter through Gate 70 during peak hours; outside of peak hours, guests may enter through Gate 40 on Williamson Boulevard. After a race the speedway points drivers toward I-95, I-4 or the beachside, and it notes that lot availability and pricing vary by event (Daytona International Speedway directions and parking).

The standard Speedway Tour at Daytona International Speedway lasts about 60 minutes and covers the infield, the 31 degree banks and pit road, ending at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, whose admission is included. The VIP Tour runs about 2.5 hours at 1:00 PM Tuesday to Sunday and adds the NASCAR Archives and Research Center and the press box. The Hall of Fame is open daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM with no ticket sales after 4:00 PM (Daytona International Speedway tours).

Three practical rules from the Daytona International Speedway tours page save a wasted trip: tours run in rain but stop when lightning is within eight miles of the track, start and finish line and pit road access depends on track activity, and the tours and Hall of Fame are cashless. Visitors check in at the ticket and tours building at the corner of West International Speedway Boulevard and Bill France Boulevard, at least 15 minutes before departure, or 30 minutes early for mobility accommodations (speedway tours).

Beach racing in Volusia County began with timed trials on the hard packed sand at Ormond Beach on March 26, 1903, two days before the first Ormond Challenge Cup (Volusia County Legacy of Speed).

Volusia County's history series traces the idea to 1902, when retired businessman J.F. Hathaway sent photographs of the Ormond Beach sand to automobile journals. William J. Morgan of Automobile Magazine arrived in February 1903 and, with John Anderson and Joseph Price, managers of the Ormond Hotel, decided on a winter automobile racing event. Alexander Winton drove his Bullet and H. T. Thomas drove the Pirate built by Ransom E. Olds, and in the Ormond Challenge Cup the Bullet won by one-fifth of a second (Volusia County).

The meet became annual. Florida Memory holds, from the State Library of Florida's Florida Collection, the official program of the second annual Ormond-Daytona Beach Races, held January 25 to February 6, 1904, under the Florida East Coast Automobile Association, with lists of the contestants in the 1903 and 1904 races and the cars, speeds and horsepower (Florida Memory). The winter series continued in Ormond Beach until 1910, and motorcycles raced from the start, with Glenn H. Curtiss the fastest vehicle through the Measured Mile in 1907 on a V-8 motorcycle (Volusia County).

Land speed records moved south to Daytona Beach in the 1920s, on a Measured Mile course that started at Ponce Inlet. Major H.O.D. Segrave drove 203.79 mph there on March 29, 1927, and Ray Keech reached 207.552 mph in 1928; under the rules of the time each record was the average of one northbound and one southbound run, which cancelled any wind advantage (Volusia County).

NASCAR was organized in Daytona Beach in December 1947, when Bill France, Bill Tuthill and 18 racing men met at the Streamline Hotel and chose France as President (Volusia County).

Volusia County's account says France moved the 1936 beach road course farther south toward Ponce Inlet, and the new beach track opened in 1948 with separate courses for motorcycles and cars (Volusia County). By 1957 the end of beach racing at Daytona Beach was in sight: the city was spreading south, beach conditions were unpredictable, and many spectators watched without paying for the grandstands (Volusia County).

The Florida Legislature stepped in. In 1958 the State Legislature established the Daytona Beach Racing and Recreational Facilities District, which held land in the Municipal Airport tract on a 99-year lease; when no builder answered by the November 8, 1957 cutoff, the district leased the property to a new corporation headed by William H.G. France (Volusia County). Construction began in the summer of 1958 and the first Daytona 500 ran on the new track in 1959. Designer Charles H. Moneypenney, a former Daytona Beach engineer, worked without a blueprint; France wanted the track visible from every seat, which produced the 31 degree banked turns and the tri-oval that looks like a big D from the air (Volusia County).

Visitors can still trace the beach era in Daytona Beach: Volusia County notes the Speeding Through Time plaques for drivers from 1903 onward on the boardwalk by the Main Street Pier, and the Sir Malcolm Campbell Clocktower in nearby Oceanfront Park (Volusia County).

Sebring International Raceway holds the 2027 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17 to 20, 2027, and Homestead-Miami Speedway posts NASCAR Championship Weekend for November 6 to 8 (Sebring International Raceway; Homestead-Miami Speedway).

The March 20, 2027 race at Sebring International Raceway is the 75th running of the Twelve Hours of Sebring, and the raceway has unveiled a new Alec Ulmann Perpetual Trophy and is naming the 75 most successful drivers in the race's history ahead of it (Sebring International Raceway). The raceway's fall calendar lists the World Racing League on October 16 to 18, 2026 and the HSR Classic 12 Hour on December 3 to 6, 2026. Its GPS address is 113 Midway Drive, Sebring, Florida 33870, and its ticket line is 863.655.1442 (Sebring directions).

Homestead-Miami Speedway says its Championship Weekend decides the NASCAR title after 26 regular season races and a 10 race postseason, and tickets, add ons and camping for November 6 to 8 are on sale (Homestead-Miami Speedway). The speedway's ticket line is 866-409-7223 (Homestead-Miami Speedway).

The busiest Florida racing stretch is late January to late March 2027, when the Rolex 24, the Daytona 500, Bike Week and the Twelve Hours of Sebring fall within about seven weeks (Daytona International Speedway; Sebring International Raceway).

The dates overlap in ways that matter for lodging and driving. Bike Week At Daytona runs March 5 to 14, 2027 and includes the Daytona 200 on March 13, and the Twelve Hours of Sebring weekend starts March 17, three days after Bike Week closes (Daytona International Speedway; Sebring International Raceway). Every date in this guide is the track's own posted date as of October 15, 2026; the Daytona International Speedway tours page notes that tour dates and times are subject to change, so the event page is the place to recheck before buying travel. At Daytona International Speedway the parking guide says which lots open varies by event, and the GPS links in the guide's Best Route section update as drivers get close (speedway parking guide).