Prior to 1998, the Daytona International Speedway was one of the few super speedways on the NASCAR circuit that lacked a permanent lighting system.

After all, who thought about racing at night around the "The World Center of Racing"? It was home to two of the most exciting events of the year with the season-opening Daytona 500 in February and the mid-summer classic in the Firecracker 400.

In no way did it need to be like rival tracks in Concord, N.C., Bristol, Tenn., or other small tracks across the country. Not a chance.

Well, the powers that be at International Speedway Corporation, who own a majority of the venues on the NASCAR schedule, wondered "what the night could do," as Steve Winwood once sang in 1988.

Over the winter of 1997-1998, the diligent staff of Daytona installed MUSCO lighting systems all around the track, completing the ambitious project in anticipation of the Pepsi 400 scheduled for Saturday, July 4th.

Fans, competitors, and the media were left in awe at the beautiful sights of the newly-lit 2.5-mile superspeedway. "This place is so lit up, it almost looks like a day race in these cars", which then TNN Motorsports personality Dr. Dick Berggren said during the race broadcast.

The late Dale Earnhardt, Sr. piloted his No. 3 Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet for a few circuits around the track in front of a relatively tremendous crowd who were essentially watching a media-driven test session.

With Earnhardt, Sr. giving the thumbs up, fans counted down to the race date of Independence Day. All the ingredients for a perfect race were there:

• It was NASCAR's 50th Anniversary, with huge merchandising gimmicks and media tributes for fans to immerse themselves in.
• "The Man In Black" had won—finally—the Daytona 500 earlier in the year, thus making him the odds-on favorite for the Pepsi 400.
• And oh yea, it was going to be held on July 4th, America's birthday. Who needed fireworks when you got the sparks flying off of 43 cars?

Unfortunately, not so much for the race, but for residents of central and southern Florida, there was a bigger concern to worry about.

The summer of '98 wasn't exactly kind to Floridians, with the wildfires threatening homeowners as well as the countless animal sanctuaries around the region.

Families fled from their homes, wondering if they would return back to a place that was in-tact or destroyed in the fire's wake.

Volusia County was declared a disaster area by the federal government—significant because it is the home to Daytona International Speedway.

The track, sponsors, and the sport reached a decision, and a right one at that, to postpone the Pepsi 400 to the Cup Series' open weekend date of Saturday, Oct. 17th.

With the wildfire threat eventually eliminated within a month, the NASCAR circuit pressed on, with records breaking, cheating accusations a plenty, new stars emerging, and a championship race that was basically won in the heat of the summer months.

The Winston Cup championship chase came down to a two man show between Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin. In essence, it was the classic battle pitting Chevrolet versus Ford, Hendrick Motorsports against Roush Racing—sounds exciting, right?

Wrong

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