Race day and Valentine’s Day give Daytona Beach businesses a boost

Daytona International Speedway

Tourists buzzed around International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach, Sunday, visiting sports bars and restaurants.

However, parking lots ordinarily packed with people in town for the race remained fairly empty, a reflection of reduced crowd sizes allowed in the Speedway due to COVID restrictions. 

The Speedway normally hosts 100,000 fans, but only welcomed 30,000 this time around to accommodate social distancing.

As storms rolled in, fans huddled underneath tents outside Hooters. The rain put a damper on several outdoor events.

The soggy weather was welcome for some. It forced hungry Daytona fans into indoor restaurants, like BJs, Chilis, and Longhorn. 

Family-owned restaurants, like Dahlia Mexican Kitchen, received a good amount of foot traffic as well. 

"We have the space and it’s mostly indoors, and we do have outdoor seating too," said Ceasar Mieryteran, manager of Dahlia Mexican Kitchen. "It’s covered so this kind of weather does help a lot."

Mieryteran said Valentine’s Day reservations combined with race day had the restaurant busy. 

It was actually the restaurant’s most successful race day since opening the location in 2019. 

"Going by what we’ve been going through with coronavirus last year, and starting to open back up, our sales have been a lot better even from our first year being open," he said. "I believe we’re doing good."