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An original 8x10" vintage photo (NOT a modern reprint) from the Marty Himes estate.
Provenance: This photograph comes directly from the Marty Himes Racing Museum Collection, assembled over decades by Marty Himes - racer, restorer, and lifelong archivist of American racing. Every piece he preserved tells part of the story of motorsport’s rise from dirt tracks to the spectacle of the Indy 500. We acquired the majority of his photo collection after his passing. Many of his photos are extremely rare or even one of a kind.
Photo Overview
This dramatic 8x10 action photograph captures the legendary Daytona Beach Road Course race in full swing, with stock cars thundering down the hardpacked sand straightaway as a large crowd watches from the dunes. Visible car numbers include #19, #6, #55, #75, #5, and #48, competing in what appears to be a NASCAR Grand National event from the mid-1950s. A flagman waves from a starter's stand at left, with the Atlantic Ocean and its surf providing a stunning natural backdrop. This is one of the most iconic and irreplaceable settings in American motorsport history.
The beach-road course era at Daytona was a brief but defining chapter in NASCAR history, running from 1948 through 1958 before the Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959. The cars, the sand, and the surf all combine here in a single frame that encapsulates an era that can never be repeated.
Historical Notes
The Daytona Beach Road Course combined a stretch of State Road A1A with the wide hardpacked beach, creating a unique 4.1-mile oval. NASCAR's founder Bill France Sr. organized races here beginning in 1948, and the event grew each year in prestige and attendance. By the mid-1950s, drivers like Tim Flock, Herb Thomas, Lee Petty, and Fireball Roberts were battling for supremacy on the sands. The 1958 race was the last held on the beach, won by Paul Goldsmith. In 1959, the newly constructed Daytona International Speedway permanently replaced the beach course, and Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500. The beach course was gone forever, making photographs like this one irreplaceable windows into NASCAR's founding era.
Browse our complete NASCAR photograph collection.
Text Present
Back of photo, upper left corner, handwritten: #14
Back of photo, center, stamped text: "The Himes Museum of Motor Racing Nostalgia, Bay Shore, New York 11706"
Back of photo, center-lower, handwritten cursive: "Daytona Beach"
Back of photo, lower left corner, handwritten: E 29 (or similar notation)
Print analysis
This is a Type 2 original photographic print. The photo was almost certainly taken in the mid-to-late 1950s during one of the final Daytona Beach Road Course NASCAR events, but the print characteristics and the Himes Museum stamp suggest it was printed somewhat later, likely in the 1960s or early 1970s as part of the museum's archival documentation process. The silver gelatin paper shows typical mid-20th century print quality. The Himes Museum of Motor Racing Nostalgia stamp on the reverse is consistent with archival prints produced by or for the collection. Estimated print date: c1960s.
Condition
Please see scans of the image we have provided for the most accurate and complete state of the photo. Many of the photos in this collection are very old and have age related wear, chips, creases, curling, etc. Others are remarkably well maintained.
