DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With the Daytona 500 race just a couple of days away, fans have made their way to the Daytona International Speedway

Organizing an event like this, which brings thousands of people to town, takes a lot of effort and staff working behind the scenes to make it all happen. Among this group of people, a centenarian employee is still making strides from the ticket office.  

Juanita “Lightnin” Epton, 103, has worked at the Daytona International Speedway for over six decades.

“I’m from Mississippi originally, and my husband was the official timekeeper and scorer for NASCAR, and that’s how I became interested in racing,” Epton said. “First race I ever went to, I said, ‘If I ever got home, I’d never go again.’ But here I am. I’m still going, and I love it.”

Epton says it was her husband Joe who gave her the nickname Lightnin’.

“He said he never knew when or where I’d strike,” she recalled.

She works at the ticket office, sorting the mail and tickets for the race, one tray at a time.

“And then when I finish the tray, I put it up there (…) and they come from the back room and get it and have them ready for the mailman,” Epton exlained.

She has been a part of the World Center of Racing since 1959. She sold tickets to the Daytona Beach course races from the mid-1940s until 1958.

“I’ve got a lot to be happy for. I’ve got a job. I’ve got people who worked with me that we worked together, and we accomplished something. And that’s a good feeling,” she said.

Epton said she has always believed her place was in the ticket office but had never seen the iconic Daytona 500 race in person until 2018.

“One of the men that worked here asked me one day. He says, ‘Have you ever been to the racetrack? To the race?’ I said ‘No.” I said, ‘That’s not my job. I’m here to work for the race and not to go up and sit.’”

He sent a car to pick her up and had a seat with her name at the grandstands.

“And about two laps in, I got up. He said, ‘Where are you going?’ I said, ‘I’m in the wrong place. I need to go back where my tickets are,’” Epton said.

Instead, she says she watches the races on television, and she’s had her favorites through the years, but when at the Speedway, the ticket office is her happy place.

“I’m here. If somebody needs something, I want to be here to help them,” she said.

In 2022, the Daytona International Speedway honored her years of work and dedication by unveiling the “Lightnin’ Epton Ticket Office.”

“I had no idea that they were even considered such a thing. And when they named the ticket office, as for me. It was — it made me feel mighty good to think that they cared enough about my work. That they honored me,” Epton said.

She said one of her favorite things about the job is meeting race fans of all ages who come to the speedway.

“A little boy, about 3 years old, came in. He had his dad with him, of course. And his dad says, ‘You are the only person he wanted to see.’ ‘So,’ he said, ‘I made sure of that. We were able to get in to see you because he always talked about Miss Lightnin’,’” she said.

It’s fans like that 3-year-old boy that Lightnin’ says makes it all worth it.

“This has been an experience that I’ll never forget. The friendships that I have made with Speedway and NASCAR. They’re life lifelong friends,” she said.

A love that makes Lightnin’ want to keep working for years to come.

The Daytona 500 will kick off on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 2:30 p.m.