On closing weekend, fans, vendors, area hoteliers praise Daytona Jeep Beach
DAYTONA BEACH — As engines snarled and groaned in protest, a procession of Jeeps kicked up dirt and debris along a formidable obstacle course at the famed Daytona International Speedway.
Its pathway littered with cracked remains of massive concrete water pipes, highway barriers and other objects that most drivers would avoid, the obstacle course was a highlight of the two-day Jeep Beach “Main Event,” a closing-weekend fixture of the 10-day Jeep Beach celebration now in its 21st year.
While a steady stream of Jeep owners accepted the challenge to tackle the course on Friday, others were content to merely watch and marvel at the power of the high performance engines and suspensions.
“I would not go on that, not with my Jeep,” said Nicole Quattrock, 32, a longtime Jeep owner from Deltona. “I’d do it with someone else’s Jeep.”
The two-day Speedway event, expanded this year to include the inaugural Jeep Beach Radio Music Festival, kicked off closing weekend activities that culminate on Sunday with the traditional Jeep Beach Parade and “Jeep Beach Sweep.”
The Sunday parade features an armada of Jeep owners that cruise the beach shortly after sunrise to pick up and dispose of trash to leave the beach better than they found it. Staging for the event starts at 5:45 a.m. at all open beach ramps from International Speedway Boulevard to Dunlawton Avenue.
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After more than two decades, Jeep Beach continues to expand its vision for an event that celebrates the Jeep lifestyle as it contributes to an array of area charities and community organizations, said Charlene Greer, the event’s founder and executive director.
“We’ve been pleased with the attendance this year,” Greer said, as she patrolled the vendor midway along the Speedway’s pit road on Friday. “We see lots of Jeeps still rolling in today. The weather has been beautiful and we’re very much blessed and honored to put on the event.”
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In addition to the new weekend concert, featuring a lineup that included country singer Lee Brice and reggae stalwarts the Wailers, this year’s Speedway “Main Event” also offered expanded space for 200+ vendors and a longer obstacle course that stretched nearly the length of the Speedway’s grandstand.
Incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity in 2017, Jeep Beach Inc. has donated over $4.1 million to area charities over the past decade through the event’s annual weeklong fund-raising efforts. Recipients include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Volusia & Flagler Counties; the NASCAR Foundation; the Childhood Cancer Foundation, as well as more than 70 additional nonprofit groups.
How much this year’s event will add to that total isn’t expected to be determined until the end of May, at the earliest, Greer said.
Area hoteliers, event vendors also applaud Jeep Beach
For area hoteliers, the event has established itself as one of the year’s key special events, said Manoj Bhoola, president and CEO of Ormond Beach-based Elite Hospitality Inc.
Elite’s roster of area hotels includes the three properties near the Speedway — the Best Western Plus International Speedway; Hampton Inn by Hilton Daytona Speedway Airport; and the Hilton Garden Inn at Daytona Beach International Airport.
“Jeep Beach had a positive economic impact for our three Daytona Beach hotels, comprised of 388 rooms on International Speedway Boulevard,” Bhoola said. “We were almost at capacity with a healthy ADR (average daily room rate) similar to last year and a lot of positive comments from attendees.”
It was a similar story at the beachfront Hard Rock Hotel, the event’s host hotel, where occupancy matched last year’s Jeep Beach, with room rates about 2% higher, said Androse Bell, general manager.
For itinerant vendors at the Speedway’s closing weekend “Main Event,” Jeep Beach ranks high among other events aimed at Jeep owners nationwide.
“This turnout for this show is huge,” said Matt Maggio, sales manager for Revolution Gear & Axle, a company based in Chicago and Los Angeles. “We’ve been coming here for about seven years now, part of a schedule of about a dozen shows nationally. Anytime you can get in front of this many people to showcase your product, it’s a must-come event for the Jeep industry.”
Jeep Beach is a hometown show for DCS Lighting, an Edgewater company that specializes in underbody and hood lights. In a typical year, the company travels to roughly 10 shows nationally, but never misses Jeep Beach, said owner David Bosco.
“This is the first big show of the year that starts the year off right,” said Bosco, who offered a positive review of Jeep Beach’s expanded footprint at the Speedway. “It was very condensed in past years and they’ve spread it out a lot. It’s a lot more interactive with the track vibe.”
Nearby, Jeep loyalists Alex and Elizabeth Johnson, of Augusta, Georgia, were watching their daughter, Julia, 3, navigate a toy Jeep around a kid-sized course. It was the family’s first Jeep Beach.
“It’s a blast,” Alex said. “I love it.
“I’ve had a Jeep ever since I first started driving 11 years ago. It’s truly a community. Everyone’s willing to help; everyone’s friendly. You can’t always say that about other brands.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Jeep Beach heads into closing weekend in Daytona Beach
