- 61st Annual DAYTONA 500, 'The Great American Race,' Highlights
DAYTONA Speedweeks Presented By AdventHealth
Daytona International Speedway and Florida Hospital, which will soon be renamed AdventHealth, announced today an expansion of their relationship, making the health system the official presenting sponsor of DAYTONA Speedweeks at the "World Center of Racing."
With this expanded multi-year partnership, DAYTONA Speedweeks will now be referred to as DAYTONA Speedweeks Presented By AdventHealth, which is highlighted by the 61st annual DAYTONA 500, "The Great American Race."
In 2014, Florida Hospital was named a Founding Partner and the Official Healthcare Partner of Daytona International Speedway. In addition, Florida Hospital provides the medical services at the facility. The new expansion of the partnership will further enable Florida Hospital to share its guiding philosophy of delivering whole-person care for the mind, body and spirit on the DAYTONA Speedweeks' international platform.
In August, Florida Hospital's parent company, Adventist Health System, announced that it will change its name to AdventHealth on Jan. 2, 2019. As one of the nation's largest health systems with more than 80,000 employees, nearly 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites, the change to the AdventHealth name will unite the healthcare system under one connected and identifiable national system of care.
DAYTONA Speedweeks Presented By AdventHealth includes the following events:
- The Lucas Oil 200 Driven By General Tire, the ARCA Racing Series season opener: Saturday, Feb. 9
- DAYTONA 500 Qualifying Presented By Kroger and the Advance Auto Parts Clash doubleheader: Sunday, Feb. 10
- The Duel At DAYTONA 150-mile qualifying races: Thursday, Feb. 14
- The NextEra Energy Resources 250, the season-opening event to the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series: Friday, Feb. 15
- The DAYTONA 300, the season-opening event to the NASCAR Xfinity Series: Saturday, Feb. 16.
- The DAYTONA 500, NASCAR's biggest and most prestigious event that marks the start of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season: Sunday, Feb. 17.
"Florida Hospital has been an ideal partner for Daytona International Speedway," track president Chip Wile said. "To be able to expand our partnership to now include the DAYTONA Speedweeks brand will provide another platform for Florida Hospital to amplify their new name."
"The DAYTONA 500 and the associated races of Speedweeks are the nation's premier racing events and present an amazing opportunity to introduce AdventHealth to race fans across the globe," said David Ottati, president and chief executive officer of Adventist Health System's Central Florida Division - North Region, which includes the Florida Hospitals located in Volusia, Flagler and Lake counties. "Since announcing our Founding Partnership with Daytona International Speedway four years ago, we have had the opportunity to share our message of health and wellness, focused on improving lifestyles and offering high-quality healthcare services. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to further expand upon our relationship with the Daytona International Speedway and are already looking forward to the upcoming Speedweeks."
