The first annual automobile race meet on the beaches of Daytona and Ormond, FL was held in March 1903. The event was sanctioned by American Automobile Association (the same AAA we know of today for their roadside assistance and travel services) and managed by New York businessman W.J. Morgan.

Among the multiple races and time trials held on the beach during the meet, the 1 mile events earned special attention. Before the meet the racing enthusiasts and meet organizers believed the 1 mile record could be lowered to 50 seconds or less. Alexander Winton, born in Scotland, but a longtime USA resident by the early 1900s, failed to set a new world record in the mile, but he set a course record at 52 1/5 seconds driving his Winton Bullet. The time was a record for an American automobile.

And an annual tradition of speeding across the Florida beaches was born.

The second annual automobile race meet, again sanctioned by the AAA, was held in late January. Building on the success of the inaugural meet and igniting a still-continuing trend of the importance of sponsorship in motorsports, prizes at the event were sponsored by individuals, organizations, and businesses. Among the sponsors were Hotel Ormond, Florida East Coast Railroad, Seaboard Airlines (railroad company), Diamond Rubber Works, and Automobile Magazine.

In the one mile straightaway record time trial William K. Vanderbilt lowered the mile record to 39 seconds. In the 1 mile championship race Barney Oldfield, driving Winton Bullet #2, faced off against Vanderbilt, in a Mercedes. The two drivers were side-by-side for much of the race until Oldfield pulled away when Vanderbilt had a struggle getting the car into 4th gear. At the finish Oldfield topped Vanderbilt by 3 seconds for the race win.

Learn more about Barney Oldfield

In late January 1905 the Daytona-Ormond beach racing tournament was once held again to the delight of the winter visitors to Florida’s beaches. The event was no longer just about the racing, as there was increased focus on accommodations and hospitality, with a new clubhouse for the Florida East Coast Automobile Association and new hotels and improvements to area accommodations.

As excitement for racing grew, so too did controversy. There were conversations around closing the races to only allow invited participants. However, owners and drivers protested as closing the meet would have limited the international involvement and limited the influence and importance of the racing held on the beach.

Before the race started the beach course suffered its first major tragedy – the death of Frank Croker who was on the beach preparing for the race. A trio of drivers set and re-set the new mile record during the meet. First, Louis Ross set the record with his steamer, then Arthur MacDonald set a new record in his gasoline car Finally, H.L. Bowden of Boston drove his 120 horsepower Mercedes to a new world’s straightaway mile record at 32 4/5 seconds. Ross was the hero of the event though – winning the 1 mile event for the first ever Sir Thomas Dewar Trophy. Ross, an architect from MA, was driving a 20 horsepower steam powered car he built himself. And with that car he was outrunning cars purchased for thousands of dollars specifically to showcase their speed.

The fourth annual automobile race tournament was held in January 1906 in front of a large crowd. The event was at the center of the 2 mile a minute craze as the auto racing world was obsessed with the prospect of running 2 miles under 1 minute. Living up to the hype, at the meet Victor Demogeot, of France, drove his 200 horsepower Darracq for 2 miles in only 58 4/5 seconds and was crowned speed king.

However, the 2 mile event wasn’t the only highlight. Englishman Clifford Earp won the 100 mile race and set a world record at the distance even though a defective tire forced him to complete the race on only 3 tires. As Earp and Demogeot’s successes show, the races attracted international appeal as word of the speed and quality of the beach course traveled across the ocean.

The fastest and most controversial times were set by Fred Marriott. Marriott drove to the Sir Thomas Dewar trophy in a Stanley Steamer at 32 seconds for a mile, and then lowered the mile record in a steamer only event to 28 1/5 seconds, a speed of 127.5 mph. The Stanley “teakettle” was a steam, rather than gasoline powered car, and could only run fast for a couple of miles.

Despite the 2 mile a minute craze that gripped the 1906 race, the 1907 race struggled to recruit entries and was in jeopardy of not being held. Manufacturers disliked the entry of “freak cars”, like the Stanley Steamer that scored the coveted Sir Thomas Dewar Trophy the previous year. Before the meet, several owners of freak cars backed out. Because of the freak car issue, trustees of the Dewar trophy refused to allow the cup to be competed for, even though it was intended to be an annually awarded prize.

The Stanley Steamers, driven by Marriott, H.E. Stanley, and Frank Durbin, dominated the shorter races of the event at distances of less than 5 miles. The gasoline powered cars reigned in the longer races at 10, 20, and 100 miles.

The biggest story out of the tournament was the crash on the final day that left Marriott’s Stanley Steamer in “thousands” of pieces on the beach. Marriott was attempting to lower the mile record when he hit a ridge in the sand, which sent the car airborne. When the car landed it rolled over briefly pinning Marriott. Marriott escaped with serious abrasions, but no broken bones.

Promoter W.J. Morgan viewed the 1907 races as a failure for several reasons: bad weather dampened attendance, the January race date was earlier in the year than the manufacturers wanted, the freak cars controversy discouraged entries, and high costs for shipping cars by rail and ship were a deterrent.

Learn more about the exciting arrival of 4 visitors to the 1907 races.

In 1908 the annual beach tournament returned to Ormond-Daytona, but this time the event was held in March, as suggested by Morgan at the conclusion of the 1907 event, to take advantage of better weather and to follow the winter automobile shows, which better met the manufacturers’ needs.

After the previous years’ controversy over freak cars, which specialized in short distances, there was more focus on the longer distances at the 1908 tournament. Emmanuel Cedrino, an Italian driver, piloting a Fiat dominated the tournament. Cedrino won the Minneapolis Championship Trophy for the 100 mile race which he won despite racing almost the entire distance on only 3 tires.

Cedrino also won the 256-mile race for the Automobile Club of America Cup, but when he reached the race distance he just kept going. Cedrino drove 300 miles enroute to a record for that distance at 77.7 mph. In addition to his success as a driver, Cedrino was a successful mentor at the 1908 meet as he brought along amateur rookie driver David Bruce Brown who set the mile amateur record at 35 3/5 mph in a 60 horsepower Fiat. (Sadly, Cedrino would never return to Daytona to defend his wins as he died 2 months later in a racing accident in Baltimore.)

In 1909 a major changed happened in the organization of the beach tournament. The March tournament was no longer a joint effort of the towns of Daytona and Ormond. When businesses in Ormond, including the East Coast hotel, withdrew their support, the races “Ormond” name was dropped. Without Ormond business support, the Daytona residents, winter visitors, and beach racing enthusiasts stepped up to contribute funds to hold the races. The Florida East Coast Automobile Association canvassed the area soliciting contributions. If the club could raise $4000, Morgan agreed to again manage the event.

David Bruce Brown, who first raced at the beach the previous season, had a strong showing in his 120 horsepower Benz. Bruce Brown broke the amateur mile record, a record he had set the previous season, to win the Sir Thomas Dewar Trophy. The record was lowered from 35 3/5 seconds to 33 seconds. Bruce Brown also lowered the amateur record for 10 miles to 5:15, running a full minute faster than the previous record.

Learn more about David Bruce Brown (and how his mom almost derailed his career).

The annual beach racing tournament nearly came to an end in 1910, but at the last moment a March tournament was organized. In late 1909 Morgan declared the races would not be held. The races near-cancellation was due to a lack of involvement from Florida East Coast Automobile Association and lack of support from the railroads and steamship companies. In addition, people believed the limits of speed had been reached. For 4 year Marriott’s world record, established in 1906 in the Stanley Steamer, had stood untouched. That was until races were held across the ocean at a new 3 mile track in Brooklands, England. At Brooklands Hemery set a new mile record in a Benz, driving a mile in 28 seconds. Barney Oldfield, of Ohio, bought Hemery’s record-breaking Benz, called the “Blitzen Benz” and requested the Daytona event to be held to give him a chance to prove the speed of the car on the beach of Daytona. Oldfield and Daytona racing enthusiasts believed the Florida beach to be the fastest course in the world and the Blitzen Benz would give the course a true test. At the tournament Oldfield set a new mile world record at 27 1/3 seconds.

Following Oldfield’s record setting run in 1910, racing returned to the beach in 1911, but this time Bob Burman was the star. Since the 1910 event Burman had acquired Oldfield’s 200 horsepower Blitzen Benz. At the tournament Burman set new records, including the mile and 2 mile. Burman ran a 25 2/5 seconds mile compared to Oldfield’s previous 27 1/3 seconds in 1910. For the 2 mile record Burman beat Oldfield’s previous record by 4 seconds. Burman, shaken by the speed at which he was traveling, described his speed as “going some”. After setting the records Burman hoped they would stand for a few days as he did not want to drive that fast again any time soon.

Oldfield was not in attendance after being suspended by the American Automobile Association for an unsanctioned race against boxer Jack Johnson.

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Learn more about Bob Burman. 

In the years that followed races and time trials were held on the beach, but the golden era of beach racing had passed. The Vanderbilt and Savannah races, other prominent races that had run successfully alongside the Ormond-Daytona beach races on the annual race schedule, had also been abandoned. At the same time a new track in Indianapolis, the now famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was drawing attention. The Indianapolis races were more commercial, which changed the approach to racing in America. Daytona races had always attracted many amateurs, in addition to the professional factory drivers, and prizes were donated by businesses and prominent individuals.

Daytona’s long course also became a challenge. Daytona’s 20 mile course left a long wait for cars to come back around which dampened the excitement of watching a race on the beach. Indianapolis and Galveston Beach both designed successful shorter courses.

Eventually World War I took attention and people away from racing. When the war ended beach racing returned with its earlier spirit and finally Bob Burman’s mile record was finally broken by Ralph DePalma in the 1919 speed tournament.