However, the weekend was marred by the tragic death of George Amick, who was killed in a crash on the final lap of the Champ Car race.

[3] In the wake of the tragic circumstances, the blindingly fast speeds were deemed too dangerous for the track, and the Indy cars would never again race on the Daytona International Speedway oval.

In 2006 and again in 2007, the IndyCar Series held a compatibility test on the Daytona International Speedway motorcycle road course (which skips the west banking), the first time Indy type cars had driven on the track in over 45 years.

During track construction over the summer of 1958, Duane Carter, then-competition director of USAC, began negotiations with Bill France about hosting a Championship Car race at Daytona.

On November 17, 1958, USAC announced that a 100-mile Championship Car race would be held on the high banked 21⁄2 mile Daytona International Speedway oval on Saturday April 4, 1959.

[12] Banks toured Daytona with Tom Binford and others, inspecting the safety features and named Harlan Fengler as the chief steward for the race.

[12] Upon completion of the Daytona International Speedway, Bill France wanted some USAC Championship Car teams to conduct exhibition speed runs during Speedweeks as a way to promote the new facility.

[13] USAC declined to conduct a full-field exhibition,[12] but permitted teams the option to participate in a series of unofficial "familiarization runs" during Speedweeks.

[20][21] On Tuesday February 10, the crew changed the gearing in the transmission,[22] and dropped the car's ride height to lower its center of gravity and prepared to make another speed run.

[25] On Wednesday February 11, Marshall Teague returned to the track in the Sumar Streamliner to make another speed record attempt.

Champ Car testing was put on hold for a week, in order to allow NASCAR exclusive use of the track for the next several days.

* Includes days where trackactivity was significantlylimited due to rain WNDB covered the Championship Car and Formula Libre races live on radio with anchor Ted Webbe.

Hal Hambrick and Val Meloy served as booth analysts, with Ben Taylor the roving reporter covering the pit area and victory lane.

A total of eight cars completed qualifying attempts, with Dick Rathmann (173.210 mph) winning the pole position with a new track record.

Rain prompted officials to cancel qualifying for the day, but the track dried sufficiently in the afternoon to allow for practice runs.

[47] After losing track time on Sunday due to rain, officials announced that the second day of qualifying would be held on Monday March 30.

Pole position winner Dick Rathmann took his Sumar Special out for a practice ran, and turned a lap at almost 171 mph before deciding to come in.

A total of seven drivers qualified, filling the field to twenty cars, but the attention of the day focused on two crashes involving Jerry Unser and Al Keller, respectively.

As Jim Rathmann and Ward were approaching the checkered flag, the spectacular and breathtaking race appeared to be completed without serious incident.

Several of the Championship Car drivers entered the race, including Dick and Jim Rathmann, A. J. Foyt, and Jerry Unser, who had recovered from the crash he had earlier in the week.

Within days, USAC president Tom Binford announced the cancellation of the planned July 4 Champ Car race at Daytona.

[74] On March 12, 2009, eight restored vintage Indy roadsters took exhibition parade laps around the Daytona International Speedway oval, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the 100-mile USAC race.

[75] After the USAC race was discontinued, Bill France put up a $10,000 cash prize for the first driver to complete a lap at over 180 mph at Daytona.

The highly modified Indy roadster was fitted with aircraft-style wings on the sides and on the tail, and was given the nickname the "Mad Dog IV.

[81] On Monday August 28, with about 350 spectators in attendance, Malone finally succeeded, officially breaking the 180 mph barrier, the first driver ever to do so at Daytona International Speedway.

He was able to safely bring the car under control, and returned to the pits where he received accolades from the spectators and press, and was later presented with the $10,000 check.

[84] In January 1984, a secret Formula One Goodyear tire test was held on the Daytona International Speedway combined road course.

[92] On the second day of the test, the drivers briefly experimented with a 12-turn 2.95-mile (4.75 km) layout, which slightly reworked part of the infield segment.

[93] On January 31 – February 1, 2007, the IRL IndyCar Series returned for a second off-season compatibility test on the Daytona International Speedway combined road course.

Though the track was completely resurfaced in 2010, and numerous other safety improvements have been made in the years since, the series has not publicly expressed interest in returning.