History
The Daytona Beach Bike Week rally started as the Daytona 200 race on January 24, 1937. This first race was a 3.2 miles (5.1 km) beach and pavement course. It was won by Ed Kretz from California riding an Indian motorcycle with an average speed of 73.34 mph (118.03 km/h).
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 then promoted by the late "Big Bill" France, co-founder of NASCAR, and the family business (now known as International Speedway Corporation) still promotes the 200 and the entire Bike Week races at Daytona International Speedway, including the wildly popular Daytona Supercross.
There have been a number of deaths at the festival due to rider accidents.
| Year | Deaths | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 15 | Record at the time (only surpassed in 2006). |
| 2001 | 6 | |
| 2002 | 13 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 20 | Highest recorded annual death toll. |
| 2007 | 8 | |
| 2008 | 7 | |
| 2009 | 7 | |
| 2010 | 5 | |
| 2011 | 6 |
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