The Daytona 100 was a USAC Championship Car race held at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday April 4, 1959. It was the first and only Indy car race held on the high banks of Daytona, and saw incredible speeds turned in by the front-engined "roadsters." The race was part of a triple-header weekend featuring races for the USAC Championship Cars, Formula Libre, and a USAC-FIA sports car endurance race.
Both the Champ Car and Formula Libre races were won by Jim Rathmann. However, the weekend was marred by the tragic death of George Amick, who was killed in a crash on the final lap of the Champ Car race. Amick's death came less than two months after Marshall Teague was also killed testing a highly modified Indy roadster at the track. Despite a predicted crowd of over 30,000 spectators for the weekend, turnout was disappointing. With estimates as low as 7,000 to 10,000 in attendance for Saturday, the event was also seen as unsuccessful and a money-loser. In the wake of the tragic circumstances, the blindingly fast speeds were deemed too dangerous for the track, and the Indy cars would never again race on the Daytona International Speedway oval. The sports cars, however, would return and the Daytona Continental later became an annual event, now known as the 24 Hours of Daytona.
The Daytona 100 was the first race of the 1959 USAC Championship Trail, and the first Championship race held in the state of Florida since a board track race at Fulford–Miami Speedway in 1926. There would not be another Indy car race held in Florida until the Miami Grand Prix in 1985.
In 2006 and again in 2007, the IndyCar Series held a compatibility test on the Daytona International Speedway motorcycle road course (which skips the west banking), the first time Indy type cars had driven on the track in over 45 years. The test was to evaluate the facility as a possible warm-weather testing venue (and perhaps a future racing venue). However, a race was never scheduled, and the series never returned.
Background Construction on the Daytona International Speedway broke ground on November 25, 1957. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. constructed the facility as a replacement for the Daytona Beach Road Course. He envisioned the track as having the steepest banking possible to allow the cars to reach high speeds and to give spectators the best view of the cars on track. The inaugural Daytona 500 was scheduled for February 22, 1959, and the race was to become the most prestigious stock car race in the county. The track was intended to not only be a showcase for stock cars, but was designed to host Championship Cars, sports cars, motorcycles, and closed-course speed record runs.
During track construction over the summer of 1958, Duane Carter, then-competition director of USAC, began negotiations with Bill France about hosting a Championship Car race at Daytona. A 250-mile or 300-mile race on July 4 was the focus of the discussions. On November 17, 1958, USAC announced that a 100-mile Championship Car race would be held on the high banked 2 mile Daytona International Speedway oval on Saturday April 4, 1959. It would serve as the season opener for the 1959 season. The race would be paired with a 1000-kilometer sports car race to be held on the combined road course. USAC decided to first hold a shorter 100-mile race at Daytona to allow teams to acclimate themselves to the new facility, and to serve as a tune-up for a bigger race tentatively scheduled for July 4. A second 100-mile race for Formula Libre machines was also added to the weekend. The field for the Formula Libre race would be open to unlimited engine displacements. Officials hoped the Formula Libre race would attract the Champ Cars, specially modified Champ Cars, and selected sports cars.
Track evaluation USAC officials visited the Daytona International Speedway while it was still under construction. The officials were impressed by the facility, and expected very high speeds. Immediately, comparisons were being made to the Race of Two Worlds which was held at Monza in 1957 and 1958. The one-lap record in a Championship Car was set on the Monza oval by Tony Bettenhausen at a speed of 177.045 mph. Speeds at Daytona were expected to rival those seen at Monza. The qualifying track record at the Indianapolis 500 was held by Dick Rathmann (145.974 mph) from 1958, meaning speeds at Daytona were predicted to be over 30 mph faster than Indy.
Henry Banks was named the new competition director at USAC for 1959. Banks toured Daytona with Tom Binford and others, inspecting the safety features and named Harlan Fengler as the chief steward for the race.
Death of Marshall Teague Upon completion of the Daytona International Speedway, Bill France wanted some USAC Championship Car teams to conduct exhibition speed runs during Speedweeks as a way to promote the new facility. USAC declined to conduct a full-field exhibition, but permitted teams the option to participate in a series of unofficial "familiarization runs" during Speedweeks. Car owner Chapman S. Root of nearby Ormond Beach was the first to express interest in participating. Three other teams were expected to test as well.
Root arrived at the track with the Sumar Streamliner, a modified Indy roadster with streamlined body and a canopy top. The driver was to be Marshall Teague, a former NASCAR and AAA/USAC Stock Car driver turned Champ Car driver. On Monday February 9, Teague made his first practice laps, turning a total of nine laps. His best lap was 171.821 mph. It was the fastest single lap ever run on a closed circuit in the United States.
On Tuesday February 10, the crew changed the gearing in the transmission, and dropped the car's ride height to lower its center of gravity and prepared to make another speed run. Teague ran about 10 to 15 laps in the 170 mph range, before being called in by the crew due to gusty winds. His fastest lap had been 170.06 mph, slightly below his mark set the day before. In addition, tire technicians observed something wrong with the left rear tire, and wanted him to return to the pits immediately. The crew discovered a cut tire, presumably from running over a piece of debris, and a protruding innertube, and called off practice for the day.
On Wednesday February 11, Marshall Teague returned to the track in the Sumar Streamliner to make another speed record attempt. Shortly after 12:00 p.m., Teague completed three laps around the track, and was gradually working his car up to speed. After laps timed at 128.42 mph, and 160.25 mph, Teague entered turns one and two on his fifth lap. The rear end of the car drifted out, and the nose of the car dipped and dug down into the pavement. The car started flipping wildly down the track, gouging chunks of asphalt, and littering debris. The plastic canopy top was broken off, and the seat was thrown from the car with Teague still buckled in the harness. Teague was killed instantly of a fractured skull. Less than two weeks after the track opened, Teague became the first driver to be killed in a crash at Daytona.
Testing Despite the fatal crash of Marshall Teague, USAC officials decided it was not necessary to call off the April Championship Car races. The test session resumed on Thursday February 12. Two cars were at the track being prepared, but neither took any laps on Thursday. Car owner Art Lathrope had a Smokey Yunick-prepared Kuzma/Offenhauser roadster with driver Jim Rathmann. The other car was a Nisonger/Chevrolet sports car owned by Bill Sadler, with driver Bob Said. USAC did not permit Said to drive on Thursday, pending a safety inspection.
On Friday February 13, Jim Rathmann took to the track, turning a lap of 170.06 mph. Rathmann compared the track to Monza, where he had been victorious in the Race of Two Worlds. Champ Car testing was put on hold for a week, in order to allow NASCAR exclusive use of the track for the next several days. Rathmann planned to return for one last attempt at a record. Meanwhile, Lee Petty would go on to win the Inaugural Daytona 500.
The final day of Champ Car testing was held on Thursday February 19. Brothers Jim and Dick Rathmann were on hand, planning to take turns in the Kuzma//Offenhauser. Both were aiming at Marshall Teague's track record from the previous week, and likewise hoping to set a closed-course speed record. Both drivers took hot laps, but neither were fast enough to eclipse Teague's lap time, hampered largely due to strong, gusty winds. Car owner Art Lathrope, in fact, instructed his drivers not to go all out, not wanting anyone to risk getting injured. He was confident that when they returned in March, with more preparation, speeds would be up another 10 mph. Dick Rathmann was the fastest of the day at 170.65 mph, and Jim Rathmann had a best lap of 166.11 mph.
In early March, two-time National Champion Tony Bettenhausen headlined the list of entries received for the race. As many as thirty entries were expected.
Race schedule Practice and qualifying was scheduled for the ten days leading up to the race. Pole qualifying for the Champ Car race was scheduled for Saturday March 28. The second day of qualifying was scheduled for Sunday March 29, with a third day scheduled for mid-week. Practice and qualifying for the sports car endurance race would be held in the latter parts of the week.
Saturday would feature a doubleheader of 100-mile (40-lap) races. The Championship Car race was scheduled for 2:00 p.m., and the Formula Libre race was scheduled afterwards at 3:30 p.m. The sports car endurance race was scheduled for 1000 kilometers (164 laps) around the 3.81-mile combined road course. The endurance race would start Sunday at 12:30 p.m., and was expected to race well into the evening.
Race schedule – March/April 1959SunMonTueWedThuFriSat22 23 24 25Practice 26Practice 27Practice 28Time trials 29Time trials 30Time trials 31Practice 1Practice 2Time trials 3Time trials 4Champ Car raceFormula Libre race 5Sports Car race 6 7 8 9 10 11 Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where trackactivity was significantlylimited due to rain
WNDB covered the Championship Car and Formula Libre races live on radio with anchor Ted Webbe. Hal Hambrick and Val Meloy served as booth analysts, with Ben Taylor the roving reporter covering the pit area and victory lane. The broadcast was picked up by numerous radio stations in the eastern United States.
Practice and qualifying Practice began on Wednesday March 25. Pole qualifying was scheduled for Saturday March 28. Qualifiers on the second day of qualifying would line up behind the first day qualifiers, and so on, mimicking the format used at Indianapolis. Each qualifying attempt consisted of one warm-up lap, and two timed laps, with the best single lap recorded as the car's qualifying speed.
After testing and practice, participants generally praised the course. However, there was an underlying concern around the paddock about the incredible speeds. Cars were routinely turning laps at an average speed of more than 30 mph faster than laps turned at Indianapolis. Another point of concern was the abrupt transition from the steep 31° banking in the turns to the nearly flat apron. Drivers were worried that a spinning car may come down the banking and hit the apron, resulting in a serious crash.
Wednesday March 25 Practice and testing for the Championship Cars began on Wednesday March 25. A total of 27 cars were officially entered and many were already arriving in the garage area. In order to allow drivers to familiarize themselves to the course, USAC chief steward Harlan Fengler imposed a 150 mph speed limit for each driver during their first ten laps. The next ten laps could be run at 160 mph. The speed limit was put in place as a safety precaution.