DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As fans make their way this weekend to enjoy the NASCAR races, businesses see an uptick in sales.

What You Need To Know

  • The Daytona 500 brings people from all over the country, and with that, hotels and restaurants surrounding the Daytona International Speedway get busier

  • According to research by the Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, visitors spent about $5.4 billion during the 2023 calendar year. They predict this year hotels and restaurants will also benefit from having the race fans in town.

  • Kim Lawson is the owner of Hampton’s Restaurant, a staple in the Daytona Beach community. They've been around for 64 years

  • Lawson says they get a lot of customers who are here for the races

The Daytona 500 brings people from all over the country, and with that, hotels and restaurants surrounding the Daytona International Speedway get busier. 

It’s a tradition for many fans who come all the way to Volusia County to witness it. That’s the case of race fan Patty Coy from Michigan. 

“I’ve been coming here since 2003, and this is my 25th year of attending NASCAR. I have six races to go to this year after this one,” Coy said.

Race week during the Daytona 500 is an especially busy time for the area. With nearly 12,000 hotel rooms sold out, and bars and restaurants getting a big boost in sales.

“You can spend a couple of hundred, couple of thousand, depends on —you have a choice of what you want to do,” Coy said.

Kim Lawson is the owner of Hampton’s Restaurant a staple in the Daytona Beach community. They’ve been around for 64 years.

“Our specialty is fried chicken. However, we do offer breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Lawson said.

She says they get a lot of customers who are here for the races.

“Race week in this area is always super exciting. So, we get a lot of the teams that come in, we get a lot of the fans. This is often we hear, 'Oh, this is always our first stop on our trip in for the race week,' and things like that. So, it's very exciting,” she said.

According to research by the Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, visitors spent about $5.4 billion during the 2023 calendar year. They predict this year hotels and restaurants will also benefit from having the race fans in town.  

“It's an amazing impact. We get a great turnout. Starting from about Wednesday all the way through Monday, we get a great crowd. You know, they'll come in for breakfast, they'll bring chicken to the track for later,” Lawson said.

Lawson said they get ready for race week by ordering quite a bit more of food before it begins and staff members working together to pick up extra shifts to meet the demand.