The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT<\/a>) is sponsoring the America 250 Florida Duel at Daytona that will highlight America\u2019s founding in 1776 while honoring the start of Speedweeks, which marks Florida\u2019s history in racing. The event will take place on Feb. 12, only three days before the annual Daytona 500, set for Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway.<\/p>\n The FDOT event will encourage safe driving on Florida\u2019s roadways. At the same time, the sponsorship will mark America\u2019s anniversary as drivers angle for their starting positions during the \u201cduel\u201d in the run-up to the Daytona 500. FDOT representatives will be on site at the Speedway to educate and promote safety tips for race fans.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to welcome the Florida Department of Transportation as our new sponsor for the\u00a0America 250 Florida Duel at DAYTONA\u00a0to help kick off Speedweeks Presented by AdventHealth in 2026,\u201d\u00a0said Frank Kelleher, Daytona International Speedway President. \u201cThis sponsorship is a commitment to FDOT\u2019s continued efforts to help keep Volusia County\u2019s roadways safe. As we move forward on the shared journey toward a brighter future in Florida, there\u2019s no better place to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence than at The World Center of Racing.\u201d<\/p>\n While America\u2019s founding will be a centerpiece of the partnership, Florida\u2019s unique prominence as \u201cthe birthplace of speed\u201d will also be featured during the FDOT events at the Speedway. Florida\u2019s racing heritage will be showcased throughout the events leading up to the 68th running of the Daytona 500. Officials say Florida\u2019s racing industry now dates back 125 years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe history of automobile racing in Florida began in 1903 with a line drawn on the Florida sand, and throughout the years, the sport has rapidly grown in the state to make the Daytona 500 the most prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar. Duel at Daytona is an exciting way to commemorate that history for the America250FL initiative, which celebrates Florida\u2019s role in the 250th (semiquincentennial) anniversary of our nation\u2019s founding,\u201d said Secretary of State Cord Byrd, Chair of Florida\u2019s Semiquincentennial Commission. \u201cVisit\u00a0America250FL.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow America250FL on X, Facebook, and Instagram to stay informed about ways to commemorate America250FL and our history.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The event just before the Daytona 500 will mark 250 years of America and 125 years of Florida…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[52302,54455,11295,54456,54457,2345,28,1126,54458,30,29,54459,54460],"class_list":["post-105505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-america-250","tag-america-250-florida-duel-at-daytona","tag-cord-byrd","tag-daytona-500","tag-daytona-international-speedway","tag-fdot","tag-florida","tag-florida-department-of-transportation","tag-florida-duel-at-daytona","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-floridas-semiquincentennial-commission","tag-frank-kelleher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20250658_FINAL_FloridaPolitics_728x90.jpg\")
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