Sneak Preview of the Lights at Daytona
10 June 1998
Daytona Beach, FL Musco Lighting proclaims the speedway "the largest lighting project of a sporting arena ever." Daytona International Speedway officials call it "a sell-out." Either way it looks like the drivers and racefans win. The first-ever "race under the lights" will be held July 4th at the home of NASCAR. The five million dollar project had it's first true test last night. When all was said and done the drivers and fans in attendance gave the lighting project "a big thumbs up." Rusty Wallace in the #2 Miller Lite Ford was the most enthusiastic of the fifteen drivers in attendance. Commenting just after the historic session ended, Wallace said "you can see practically everything on the track. These guys [Musco] have done a great job. Nowhere on the track did you get reflections or blind spots." Mark Martin commented that "the transition from the [lighted] track to the garage area was just like going from day to night. That was the hardest part of the whole night." The other item that all of the driver's commented about was the cool temperatures. In year's past the race would start at 11:00 AM to try and avoid most of the summer-time oppressive Florida heat and humidity. Racing at night will remove most of that problem. This will also be a big plus for the racefans. In year's past the medical center was kept busy treating fans with sun exposure. The move to a night race is a huge financial plus for the speedway. The July 4th race has traditionally sold around 100,000 tickets. This race is sold out. The traffic nightmares that come with 200,000 people descending upon this monument to stockcar racing is the one area that no one has fixed or addressed. The testing for this historic moment continues tonight and Wednesday night with another practice session for later in the month. The grandstands are open to the public. David Treffer -- The Auto Channel