On July 10, 1949, the NASCAR Strictly Stock Division staged its second championship race of the season on the Daytona Beach and Road Course in Daytona Beach, Florida. This iconic 4.1-mile course combined hard-packed sand on the beach with paved sections of Highway A1A, a layout that had long been used for organized racing before NASCAR’s involvement.
A field of 28 cars took the green flag for the 40-lap, 166-mile contest, with Gober Sosebee starting on the pole. Early in the race Sosebee led, but with six laps remaining he lost momentum in the North Turn, allowing Red Byron to take command. Byron went on to win the race in his Oldsmobile, finishing with a gap of nearly 1 minute, 51 seconds over Tim Flock. The event’s average speed was roughly 80.9 mph.
The race attracted an estimated 5,000 spectators, and a $2,000 winner’s purse was at stake. Three female drivers — Sara Christian, Louise Smith, and Ethel Mobley — competed that day, with Mobley finishing 11th as the highest-placing woman. Mechanical attrition was a key factor on the demanding course.
This Daytona Beach race was significant not only as the second points event of NASCAR’s first national stock-car championship, but also as part of the historic era of beach-and-road-course racing that helped build NASCAR’s early popularity.
