Forget what you thought you knew about the retirement age.

Daytona International Speedway and the Daytona 500 turned 65 years old in 2024 and show no signs of slowing down.

From the earliest years of fast cars on Daytona Beach, to the Speedway’s birth in 1959, and through the roaring decades that saw this sports-world mainstay become The Great American Race, you can relive all of that history with a forthcoming new book from The Daytona Beach News-Journal and the USA TODAY Network.

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“High Banks & Heroes: 65 Years at Daytona International Speedway” chronicles the Daytona 500’s high-speed, year-by-year ascent to its status as “the Super Bowl of stock-car auto racing.”

It includes a foreword by the king of stock-car racing, seven-time Daytona 500 champion Richard Petty.

Career-defining triumph, heartbreaking defeat and, yes, occasional tragedy have run three-wide through the six-plus decades, with the saga written by giants of the sport (Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and others) as well as men like Tiny Lund, Derrike Cope and Trevor Bayne, who made the Daytona 500 their one shining NASCAR moment.

The 144-page book, filled with captivating photos and historic written chronicles from The Daytona Beach News-Journal, will make a great coffee-table companion for any NASCAR fan.

The book is priced at $44.95, but it's currently available at Daytona.PictorialBook.com at a discounted pre-sale price of $35.99.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona 500 celebrated in our new book, with foreword by Richard Petty