DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The public relations and marketing department of Daytona International Speedway was honored with a prestigious 2011 Golden Image Award from the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) for its 2010 Daytona Repave public relations program.
The Golden Image Awards competition, which is conducted annually by the FPRA, recognizes PR professionals from around the state of Florida for programs and projects that represent the very best examples of innovation, planning and design in public relations. Daytona International Speedway earned the Golden Image Award in the Public Relations Programs category for Special Events.
“The Golden Image Awards have become a standard of public relations excellence in the state of Florida and we’re proud to accept this honor,” Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said. “The repaving of Daytona International Speedway was a historic and significant moment in the track’s history and successfully communicating updates about the project to the media and race fans was a collaborative effort by the entire team at Daytona International Speedway.”
Lane Construction used an estimated 50,000 tons of asphalt to repave more than 1.4 million square feet of Daytona International Speedway between June and December of 2010. It was only the second time in the track’s history that it was repaved.
Among the special initiatives surrounding Daytona International Speedway’s repave public relations program were:
· Press conference announcement at Talladega Superspeedway with the top-two finishers of the 2010 Daytona 500 – Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
· Ceremonial ground breaking with the only brothers to win the Daytona 500 – Darrell and Michael Waltrip
· The burial of a time capsule by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Burton and Chitwood
· Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, the active all-time winning driver at Daytona, driving a completed portion of the new surface and painting the start/finish line
· David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford, completing the first lap around the track in November
· Two-day Goodyear tire test with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams and a press conference with drivers Bobby Labonte, Kurt Busch, Burton and McMurray.
· Weekly press releases on the project and track president media tours
· Long-format television features SPEEDMAKERS on SPEED Channel and Discovery Canada’s Daily Planet.
Tickets for Speedweeks 2012 and the 54th annual Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, Feb. 26 are available online at http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.
Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway).
