THE DAYTON 500...

          In this section of Dayton Speedway Lives! we'll gather information about each of the 500 lap races run as Dayton 500s.

          Over the years the Dayton Speedway presented varous "signature" events, long distance races that offered relatively big purses to competitors.  In the early days, the big race was the Dayton 100.  Then, as the cars improved and became more reliable the track featured the Dayton 300.  Finally, the Dayton 500 was presented as the highlight of the Dayton Speedway racing season. 

          The first Dayton 500 was held in 1953; the last was held September 25 - 26, 1981.

          Casual race fans who watch the NASCAR Cup gang do 500 laps at Bristol or Martinsville probably won't appreciate what an endurance event the Dayton 500 became towards the end of the track's life.  The track surface was less than perfect and many of the race cars had much more than a few seasons of use when the green flag fell.

           In this section I hope to tell the story of the Dayton 500 events.  Your memories of the event as fan or competitor or track worker are welcome.  You can contact me here.

             ----Mickey