Archive

Daytona 500 tickets hawked on Facebook by Speedway in hopes of putting fannies in new plastic seats

Key Words
Speedweeks/Daytona 500
Daytona International Speedway hawking Daytona 500 tickets on Facebook / Headline Surfer®Graphic for Headline Surfer® /
At left is an example of the ongoing ad campaign on Facebook by Daytona International Speedway to push ticket sales for the Feb. 22 running of the Daytona 500. Multiple Speedway videos inside featuring Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Like a used-car salesman, Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood, III, has been talking about the new wider plastic seats installed as part of the $400 million Daytona Rising. And he's turned to Facebook to put fannies in those seats, even though a sellout is iffy.

So DIS has turned to Facebook. Yes, Facebook. Imagine the ridicule the NFL would face for pushing Superbowl tickets on the the social media site. After all, the Daytona 500 is billed as the Superbowl of NASCAR.

JetBlue to launch service between Daytona Beach International Airport & New York City's JFK year from now

JetBlue to offer flights from New York City's JFK to Daytona Beach Int'l Airport in Feb 2016 / Headline Surfer®JetBleue to offer flights between JFK & Daytona Beach Int'l Airport / Headline Surfer®Photos for Headline Surfer® /
Daytona Beach International Airport is getting a third air carrier in JetBlue in February 2016, to compliment Delta and US Airways.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Central Florida’s Daytona Beach International Airport will become a new destination for New York City's JFK Airport-based a year from now, the air carrier announced Friday.

The carrier will operate daily service from Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport (IATA code JFK) to Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB), using Airbus A320 jets configured with 150 or 165 seats.

And nobody in Volusia County government is happier with the news than first-term County Chair Jason Davis, who put a premium on economic development and tourism as major points in his 2012 election campaign. 

MARKETING MIRAGE: New multi-color seats replace checkered flag look at Daytona International Speedway

Newspaper Section

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Going by the wayside is the black & white checkered flag seating at Daytona International Speedway, which has many fans have asking: Why are the new seats in all kinds of different bright colors? Reds, blues, yellows, and whites?

Volusia County, Daytona insiders & Oak Hill mayor sign 'confidentiality agreement' for manufacturing on 415 acres

Vice Mayor: 'Something stinks here' with Daytona players Kent Sharples and Glenn Storch telling us to change zoning for something big and not telling us what it's for'

Oak Hill parcel to be considered in Oak Hill / Headline Surfer®OAK HILL, Fla. -- Volusia County government leaders and influential Daytona insiders like Kent Sharples and Glenn Storch have apparently gotten Oak Hill Mayor Douglas Gibson to sign a "confidentiality agreement" that bars him from publicly discussing what type of manufacturing development is being sought on a 415-acre site that includes two historic African-American cemeteteries just south of City Hall.

RUSH TO JUDGMENT? NASCAR suspends Kurt Busch from Sunday's Daytona 500 race

Dayton 500 / Speedweeks / Headline Surfer®
NASCAR driver Kurt Busch & ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll / Headline Surfer®

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR suspended Kurt Busch indefinitely Friday in the wake of a Delaware family court's findings that "by a preponderance of the evidence" that the 36-year-old driver "committed an act of domestic violence" against former girlfriend Patricia Driscoll on Sept. 24 of last year.

87. Incumbent Bill Crippen wins Orange City's only contested race in 2014 elections

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®

Bill Crippen romps to victory in 2014 elections in Orange City, Fla. / Headline Surfer®2014 election has Bill Crippen winning in Orange City / Headline Surfer®ORANGE CITY, Fla. -- There was only one contested race in Orange City in the November elections and even it wasn't much of a contest as incumbent O. William "Bill" Crippen romped over Vernon Stafford to retain his at-large seat with nearly 67 percent of the votes cast.

Election night totals showed Crippen with 1,890 votes or 66.93 percent to Stafford's 934 or 33.07 percent of the total.

Joshua Wagner leaves Ted Doran's law firm in Daytona; partners up with Steven Vasilaros

Party Lines political notebook pulse on Central Florida politics  / Headline Surfer®
Volusia County Councilman & attorney Joshua Wagner joining Vasilaros Legal / Headline Surfer®Joshua J. Wagner, the Daytona Beach-area Volusia County Councilman is joining the Vasilaros law firm / Headline Surfer®Headline Surfer® photo /
Volusia County Councilman Joshua J. Wagner, shown here in the inset, has left power attorney Ted Doran's Daytona Beach law firm to partner up with veteran personal injury attorney Steven Vasilaros, shown second from left in his signature logo for Vasilaros Legal, which will now become Vasilaros Wagner.

 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Say it ain't so! Volusia County Councilman Joshua J. Wagner and power attorney Ted Doran have gotten a divorce of sorts. Wagner left Doran's larger law firm earlier this month to partner up with veteran personal injury attorney Steven Vasilaros.

News-Journal's PR spin on status of DSC's Carol Eaton as described by Jon Kaney misleads public

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Beginning with the headline, "Daytona State president requested demotion to adviser,", the online Jan. 14 Daytona Beach News-Journal on Carol Eaton's new role as advisor was not only misleading, it was factually wrong.
It is true that Eaton's status had changed from lame-duck president to adviser, but the print newspaper erred in describing it as a demotion, drawing condemnation from DSC Board Vice Chairwoman Forough Hosseini.
The headline and lead paragraph imply that implies that Eaton requested the change in status, when in fact,