Behind the scenes: New Smyrna Speedway in photos

Clyde Hart and his family opened New Smyrna Speedway, titled Daytona Raceway at the time, as a dirt track in 1967. Six months later, the track surface was paved for the sake of competitive racing. The rest, as they say, is history.

Renamed with the surface update, New Smyrna Speedway has hosted the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing — now a nine-night series of racing featuring late models, tour modifieds, the ARCA Menards Series East and more — every year since it was paved. The tradition takes place each year during Daytona Speedweeks.

Apart from its World Series, New Smyrna Speedway hosts weekly grass roots racing on Saturday nights from March through mid-November as part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. The venue also features a handful of special events on its schedule.

New Smyrna Speedway was staple on the East Series schedule from 2014-2022. Todd Gilliland, who won the East races at New Smyrna in 2016 and 2018, respectively, is the only driver who has scored multiple victories at the track in the series.

New Smyrna's World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing schedule now includes the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season-opener. Matt Hirschman won the Tour's inaugural visit to New Smyrna in 2022.