A Look Back: Speedway’s first light show was postponed by 1998 wildfires

June 30--Volusia and Flagler were on fire early in the summer of 1998.

Everything, it seemed, was burning or threatened by flames.

Smoke, ash, sirens and angst filled the air, and day after day, it got worse and worse.

One of the last victims of this growing and glowing inferno two decades ago was the Pepsi 400 NASCAR Cup Series race, which was scheduled to run on the Fourth of July at Daytona International Speedway.

The track's staff had spent more than a year hyping the race, now known as the Coke Zero Sugar 400, as the first motorsports event under the lights over the 2.5-mile tri-oval.

"Our build up to that race was awesome," said Andrew Gurtis, who was vice president of sales and administration in those days. "We didn't have enough seats for the demand."

Every grandstand seat had been sold well in advance as people were drawn to the notion of night racing at Daytona.

But the fires, which were burning across the state because of a months-long drought, changed everything.

"We were aware of the race and suggested they postpone it," former Ormond Beach fire chief Barry Baker said. "The weather conditions were so dire; it was too risky to bring large numbers of people to this area.

"We had road closures and fires that were unchecked in many areas."

Dale Jarrett, then one of NASCAR's top drivers, remembers flying into Daytona Beach International Airport on July 1 and feeling somewhat horrified at the sight on the ground.

"Smoke was everywhere," he said in a recent telephone interview. "Coming into Daytona I remember the pilot saying, 'We aren't sure what we will see when we go down into this.'

"When we left there the next day, it was amazing to see all that burning. The amount of smoke was just incredible."

NASCAR and Speedway officials were hoping the wildfires would be doused by a few days of afternoon showers, but instead announced the 400's postponement on July 2, moved the race date to October, then rolled up their sleeves to join in the firefight.

The sprawling facility quickly converted to a vital, central staging area for firemen, utility companies and heavy equipment. The Speedway used its stock of food supplies, intended for race fans, and fed first responders for weeks.

"When we moved the 400 to the night, Bill France Jr. and Jim France were concerned about afternoon rain showers disturbing the race," said John Graham, who was Speedway president in 1998.

"It wasn't rain at all that stopped the first night race. It was those fires and who could have ever guessed that would happen."

Next stop: Atlantic Ocean

The wildfires of 1998 spread destruction and dread throughout the two counties and many times overran outmanned defense systems.

"It was weeks of no rest," said Rick Shiver, who was a Daytona Beach fireman in 1998 and later was served as a city commissioner. "If there was a place to lay down on the side of the road, that's what you did."

Shiver witnessed one fire jump from the west side of I-95 to the east side and start racing toward Williamson Boulevard, which back then was mostly undeveloped woodlands.

He hustled back to his unit and helped set up a line of firetrucks near a canal off of Williamson, which was less than three miles from the Speedway.

"We had 15 or 20 units and probably 60 people along that firebreak to keep the fire from coming into the city," Shiver said.

"We didn't want that dragon coming to town. We got it stopped right there, because its next stop was the Atlantic Ocean."

The meeting

Many of NASCAR's and the Speedway's top brass attended a fundraiser dinner at the Shores Resort & Spa, then known as the Daytona Hilton, in Daytona Beach Shores on the night of July 1.

When the dinner was over, the decision makers were summoned to the NASCAR boardroom for a 10:30 p.m. meeting to discuss the fate of the 400.

Bill France Jr. led the discussion. It didn't take long to make the decision since the glow of a nearby fire could be seen on the building next to the Speedway.

"I still remember Bill Jr. saying at our meeting, 'Well, ladies and gentlemen, we would be the jerks if we went ahead with the race, so we best postpone it,'" Graham said.

The decision was made to move the race to the next open date on the NASCAR Cup Series calendar, Oct. 17, which was a week after a race at Talladega Superspeedway.

"All the resources in the community were going into the firefight," Gurtis said.

"We are glad they did postpone it," former Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said. "They had to wait to see what they could do, but there was just no way could they continue on to have the race.

"The responsible thing to do was postpone that race until the weather was better, people could get here and the smoke had cleared. You can have rain delays, but smoke delays? It was a hazard for all people."

Gurtis, now Speedway vice president of operations, told those assembled for the meeting that there was a line of hundreds of cars and motorhomes parked outside the track ready to make camp in the infield. Even with the race cancelled, there would be no place for fans to go.

The primary road arteries into Daytona Beach -- I-95, I-4, U.S. 92 and U.S. 1 -- were being closed and opened intermittently based on the position of fires and smoke.

On July 2 the Florida Highway Patrol took the dramatic step of closing I-95 from Jacksonville to Titusville.

"It was eerie," said Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri, who at that time was a detective on the force's narcotic unit. "It was like a ghost town out there. It was so quiet."

No rest for weary

Law enforcement and fire departments abandoned the shift concept because this fight was seemingly endless. There was no time off.

Instead of going home or even back to the firehouse, these front-line fighters would grab food or a few hours rest as various temporary sanctuaries such as the Speedway, Houligan's sports bar on Granada Boulevard, Riverbend Community Church in Ormond Beach, and several other locations in the area.

"One of the things the Speedway has always done is open the property to first responders during any kind of natural disaster," Johnson said. "They also had equipment there we could use and they let us store equipment under the grandstand."

One of the secondary reasons Daytona decided to postpone its summer race weekend was because hundreds of first responders are needed to host a major event.

Those people were otherwise occupied.

"Everybody was working around the clock," Capri said. "We help people get out of their houses, help people move their stuff and keep an eye on businesses that were closed (by the fires)."

When the wildfires ramped up, Capri left his suit and tie at home in favor of a tactical uniform. The police force was in constant motion.

"We are a special-events town and deal with races, spring break, Bike Week and things like that. That sort of deployment planning definitely helped us out during the fires. That worked to our advantage."

One of Baker's foot soldiers was Ed Flud, who is still with the OBFD. He said the fire department's primary responsibility was to save "as many homes as we could."

"We wanted to keep people out of harm's way," Flud said. "It was very chaotic and we were working very hard down in the trenches. We were trying to do what we could to save what we could."

Flud and his counterparts were so busy battling blazes; they didn't know the race had been postponed.

"There was just so much going on and we never got to go home," he said. "We didn't know a lot of things. We didn't have (access to) TVs and there were no communications like today."

Late, but great

Once the fires were knocked down and life returned to normal in Volusia and Flagler, the Speedway staff had to begin ramping up to host the postponed race.

"It was like we staged three races that year," Gurtis said. "We went through the same process three times, but held two races."

The Speedway had no idea who would show up for an October race. This situation had never happened before or since.

"When a race ticket is sold, if the race can't be run on the date it is scheduled, the event is held on the next race-able day," Graham said. "Typically, if it's rained out, the race is held the next day.

"But these were fires that showed no signs of subsiding, so we had to find a place on the NASCAR schedule and there were races scheduled every single weekend except for Oct. 17."

The thought was it would be limited crowd, since it is easier for people to get time off of work during the summer. Instead, the fan base rallied back to the Speedway.

"We didn't know how many fans would show up," Graham said. "We were nervous about that, but as it turned out, it turned out to be a terrific evening. They all came back.

"It was beautiful night and Jeff Gordon won that race. It worked so well we actually got a lot of fan requests that we swap dates and move the July race to October because it was so pleasantly cool."

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