Daytona Beach Bike Week

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Daytona Beach Bike Week - 2006 Logo

Daytona Beach Bike Week, also called Daytona Bike Week, is a motorcycle event and rally held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. Approximately 500,000 people make their way to the rally area for the 10-day event. The festivities include motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, and street festivals. The event is usually held on the first full week of March and contends with the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally as the most popular motorcycle rally in the United States.

[edit] History

The rally started as the Daytona 200 on January 24, 1937. This first race in Daytona was a 3.2 mile beach and pavement course, and won by Ed "Ironman" Kretz from Monterey Park, California, riding an Indian motorcycle with an average speed of 73.34 mph.

This yearly race took a break from 1942 to 1947 due to World War II. During the years off, an unofficial event was still taking place commonly called Bike Week.

In 1947 the official race resumed and gained in popularity. The event was now promoted by William France Sr., co-founder of NASCAR.

[edit] Deaths and injuries

Reports vary on the number of deaths and injuries each year, but between 10 and 15 people were killed during the 2000 event. The 10-day event usually results in 4 to 10 deaths each year. In 2006, 12 riders were killed in the first eight days of the event. [1]. By the end of the event, 18 riders had been killed, making it the deadliest bike week on record. [2] (14 of the 18 deaths occurred in Volusia and Flagler counties). There have been 7 reported deaths for 2007.