This is a 1953 photo from the old Daytona 200 beach course. It the south turn and check out the dust rising up. I’ve been told that clay was trucked in to make the turns more solid. Paul Goldsmith won the race this year on a Harley-Davidson. Check out the bed mattress strapped to one of the legs of the observation deck. The only rider you can clearly ID in this photo is No. 112 Chuck Basney on a BSA. Basney was one of the top West Coast flat track racers, who tragically died in an accident at Gardena Stadium on Oct. 26, 1956. Today there is a restaurant called the South Turn Lounge on the site of the turn. I try to go and eat there at least once during bike week. They have a bunch of old photos (mainly stock cars) of action from the old south turn. You can walk the beach access road now and sort of make out some features of the old south turn. At one time they had a monument stone marking the spot.
The south turn of the old Daytona Beach course during the 1952 Daytona 200. BSA ace Chuck Basney (112) can clearly be seen entering the turn.