We lost the '87 one.

We often wonder how Daytona would be perceived by the locals if it wasn't in Florida but instead located in England or Australia. Would the same people despise it the way they claim to? Or would it be respected as perhaps the greatest engineering challenge in all of racing, one with a 65 year old motorcycle racing history? Gregg Hansford had his ashes spread at Daytona, and Hailwood always called DIS one of his favorite tracks. Unanswerable, of course.

1. The sound. No, not from the half a million rat bikes down by the beach, we're talking' the real sound of Daytona: a factory Superbike in top gear and pulling hard on the banking at Daytona. While it's hard to beat the way a stinging RC45 sounded when honking around the tri-oval at 180 mph, or a trifecta of VR 1000s in formation on the same spot, a modern day Ducati honking around the, uh, remaining baking at Daytona still makes the hair on the back of our collective neck stand up.

2. The weather. It used to be that the British Honda team would come to Daytona every March as a pre-season warm-up for their UK racing season—as did teams from Italy and France. Many times these excursions were planned and budgeted as real racing exercises. And just many times these sorties were little more than racing vacations for people who live in places with a nasty winter climate.

Californians probably don't miss a beat when arriving in Daytona for the week of the 200—it might even be cooler in Florida than it was in Orange County. To truly appreciate Florida weather everybody should have to slough to the Minneapolis airport at 4:00 AM. Record low temp we've seen upon on leaving for Daytona: minus 36. Same day temp when landing in Orlando? 76.

3. The Natives. You'll be hard-pressed to find friendlier locals than those in the Daytona Beach area, with glaring exceptions of course (the Daytona paddock security seems much friendlier today then they were even ten years ago). When compared with the other AMA rounds, the local Daytona citizenry are definitely amongst the friendliest. Long story short: We sent a Gal Friday to the local photo shop once to grab some film (okay, this was some time ago) and the elderly female clerk looked her up and down for a few moments in the check-out process and then reached over and touched her cheek. "Don't you just have the most beautiful skin, darlin'?" she said.

Depending on the location, that sort of behavior might get you slapped or potentially sued in other corners of America. In Daytona it's just part of the Southern charm.

Our favorite Cabbage Patch guy? The 40-odd year old Midwesterner with a barely legal 8-second Pro Stock bike that he claimed had never set a wheel on a drag strip in its life—a pure street race bike.

4. The Chris Carter Radio Show. Where the elite meet to ... chat. For over twenty years the stars of yesterday and tomorrow have made their way to the table piled with t-shirts, recording equipment, microphones and ... Carter. Actually Carter is behind the table, but his presence resonates throughout the room. This isn't just a radio show developed to fill dead air between nasty commercials, it's a great time—Carter's acerbic wit is priceless. It's also a wonderful place to hang out. Want to get Ben Bostrom's autograph, hear a great Barry Sheene story or buy Kenny Roberts a beer? There's only one place you're going to be able to do all that—at "The Carter Show".

5. Make the Scene. The nightly scene at any of the gas stations near the Speedway. The local police have started to take a more serious approach to law enforcement at these places, and probably for good reason—guys, street racing in front of the Speedway?—come on. But these havens for hooligans remain a cool place to hang out at, if for no other reason than to see the sheer numbers of streetbikes like yours in the world, or conversely, discern how rare your dream bike is? Not many tri-color 851s left, evidently.

6. The Cabbage Patch. While probably not as steeped in racing lore as it was 20 years ago, the Cabbage Patch still a fun time if you time it right.

We actually don't make it out there on the weekend any longer because the last time we did so, our eyes saw items being placed into body cavities that we'd never in a million years expect to be slipped in there. But if you head that way at around dusk on a weeknight during Bike Week you'll see some fairly competitive (and highly dangerous) street-racing by your basic Pro Stock bike with mirrors and a horn. Not for the timid. Some rules—for God's sake, don't stand in the impact areas, get involved in the betting or think any of the revolvers flashed around are paint ball guns. The 'Patch has a completely different vibe on the weekend—scary—but during the week a trip out there is quite entertaining.

Our favorite Cabbage Patch guy? The 40-odd year old Midwesterner with a barely legal 8-second Pro Stock bike that he claimed had never set a wheel on a drag strip in its life—a pure street race bike.

His day job? Chief of Police ... for an medium-sized Illinois city ...

7. Everybody goes to Daytona. Okay, maybe not everybody, but it's one of the few times every year that the entire US racing community, roadrace, dirttrack and motocross are in one place, and if you're resourceful, you can see several different forms of national racing in one week.

8. The final lap of the 200. All those laps at the limit and no-tool-left-behind pit stops come down to one thing: Who's leading out of the chicane and who can break the draft or use the draft to his advantage. Our favorite draft passes remain Scott Russell strafing by Doug Polen at the line in the 1992 race, and Eddie Lawson doing the same to Russell in the '93 Daytona 200. The latter had us standing on a chair screaming.

And it's not just for the lead. Rich Oliver's last lap draft pass by Ben Bostrom for third place in the 1999 200 was one of the most amazing minor triumphs ever at the Speedway.

9. The History. Take a walk down the famed Daytona Beach towards the Lighthouse. It may seem like you're just walking on the beach like the other 50,000 people there with you (if the sun is out) but you're one of a slim minority that knows you're not just walking on the beach, you're walking on hallowed ground, the actual old Daytona Beach racetrack where Ed Kretz and Ben Campanale battled on hand-shift Indians and Harleys, and also later when Joe Leonard, Brad Andres and the guys on the 1950s Harley KRs skidded around the deep sandy turns and off to a two mile run down the beach. The France family promoted motorcycle races long before they ever thought about NASCAR and car racing and on the beach is where the all the race action happened. There is a display on the beach memorializing the beach races ...

10. Lap One. Sure the last lap is usually the best, but the first run around the banking en masse is when all the talk, the rumors and conjecture disappear in a cloud of 190mph dust and smoke. While it was a bit more impressive back in the day when the 200 started 150 bikes, any multiples of racing motorcycles hitting the banking in anger is entertaining.