Beachin’ Good Time: Inside Jeep Beach 2019
Throughout the year, Daytona Beach, Florida, becomes a rotating door for gearheads from across the nation. While NASCAR’s Daytona 500 and Bike Week put the coastal town on the map, the addition of Jeep Beach has attracted a new era of vehicle enthusiasts. Though the draw to Daytona Beach for most families is the warm weather and white-sand beaches, sign up for the annual Jeep Beach event and you’ll quickly find there’s plenty to keep you busy at the end of April.
Now in its 17th year, the week-long Jeep Beach event continues to keep Jeepers entertained year after year. Two of the biggest attractions happen to come towards the end of the week. No, we’re not talking about driving on the beach (you can do that during daylight hours). We’re referring to the festivities at the Daytona International Speedway.
Inside the historic racing venue, you’ll be treated to a massive vendor show that allows to you talk parts with (and buy them from) your favorite off-road vendors. Even better? There’s a full obstacle course setup in the speedway’s infield. Built with different lines based on experience levels, there’s plenty to keep you (and those watching) entertained. While we’re breaking down more about the event in the article below, to find out how you can be part of next year’s festivities, visit JeepBeach.com.
(Additional Photos Courtesy of Will Griffin)
We love driving on the beach. Not only is cruising along the shoreline fun, but the fact that you don’t have to haul all of your beach gear by hand is really nice. For those of you unfamiliar, the sandy shores of Daytona Beach are extremely hard packed, so you don’t have to worry about getting stuck.
We made the trek down to Florida from North Carolina in our 2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. While a set of 35x12.50R17 Nitto Ridge Grapplers wrapped on 17-inch VenomRex VR-501 wheels help it perform better and stand out from the pack, we’ve got some cool stuff in store for this build we’ll be showing you very soon. You can also watch our real-world JL review to see what we think of it after putting some serious time and miles into it.
Wheeling and Nightlife
Jeep Beach shuts down Main Street for its annual block party. It’s one of many evening and nighttime events to make sure you stay busy and having fun all week long.
How do you combine one of the slowest forms of motorsports with one of the fastest? Throw a rock garden on the infield of the Daytona International Speedway. We were seeing Jeeps on 40-inch tires get a good workout here, so cakewalk, it was not. Pro tip: Even though it’s a small off-road section, the Jeepers that did the best remembered to air down their tires first!
Face-to-Face With Vendors
The vendor show is unique for a few reasons. For starters, you get to be one-on-one with manufacturers that you might not otherwise be able to engage with. Companies such as Nitto Tire use it as an opportunity to interact with and listen to their customer base. This casual feedback may seem insignificant, but Nitto is a company that takes note of what the tire buyer has to say. It’s one of the reasons it retains such a wide catalog of enthusiast-oriented tires.
With the all-new 2020 Jeep Gladiator rolling onto showroom floors now, we expected to see a few on display. What we were not counting on was the Gladiator ride-along Jeep had set up. In addition to being able to see how these things work in the dirt, Jeep had an assortment of its concept vehicles on display.
Jeep Beach can be as “adult themed” as you want it to be. After all, Daytona Beach is a very popular tourist destination. However, it is family friendly and has things to keep the kiddos entertain as well.
