FDOT paints over Daytona Speedway checkered-flag crosswalks

• Florida Department of Transportation repainted checkered flag crosswalks outside Daytona International Speedway.
• This action follows the controversial removal of rainbow colors from a crosswalk near the Pulse nightclub memorial in Orlando.
• Governor DeSantis stated that Florida will no longer use roads for messaging purposes.

This story has been updated with new photos.

DAYTONA BEACH —  It didn’t take long for state work crews to follow-up on the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) intent to repaint the checkered flag crosswalks outside Daytona International Speedway.

It’s the latest high profile intersection change in the wake of the controversial removal of rainbow colors from a crossing outside Pulse nightclub memorial in Orlando.

By dawn’s first light on Wednesday, Aug. 27, the race-themed design was gone from the crosswalk at the intersection of Bill France and International Speedway boulevards in Daytona Beach, replaced by standard broad white road stripes.

State work crews worked overnight to make the transition.

The work began on the same day, Tuesday, Aug. 26, that Speedway officials confirmed that the track had been notified by the FDOT of its intent to repaint the crosswalks as part of a “statewide standardization of those designs.”

The checkered-flag crosswalk art is displayed at an intersection used by hundreds of thousands of NASCAR fans at the annual Daytona 500 in February and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in August, not to mention the Rolex 24 endurance race in January.

When the design was debuted in 2021, it was celebrated as a way to “share the racing excitement just ahead of the start of NASCAR’s season right here in its hometown of Daytona Beach,” in a social media post by Chip Wile, then the Speedway’s president.

Other than confirming the FDOT notification, Speedway officials have had no additional comment related to the repainting of the design.

Daytona Speedway crosswalk change part of statewide crackdown

The change at the Daytona Beach intersection is the latest in a crackdown by Gov. Ron DeSantis that also ignited controversy outside the Pulse nightclub memorial in Orlando when a rainbow design on a crosswalk outside was recently repainted.

That action, which led to several unsuccessful grassroots efforts by local residents to repaint the colors, has generated national media coverage.

At a news conference in Tampa on Tuesday, DeSantis said the state was fully embracing a new policy of wiping asphalt art from streets across the state, regardless of messaging, themes or potential safety benefits.

“The Florida legislature passed a law that was very clear … we’re not doing the commandeering of the roads to put up messaging,” he said at the press conference. “We’ve made the policy decision in Florida that we’re not going to use the roads for that purpose.”

Will other intersections be repainted in Daytona, Volusia, Flagler?

It’s unclear whether there are additional intersections in Volusia and Flagler counties that will be repainted as part of the effort. An email to Cindi Lane, public information director for FDOT’s District 5 office in DeLand, seeking that information wasn’t immediately returned.

On Wednesday, there had been no official notification from FDOT to the City of Daytona Beach about intersections to be repainted, according to Susan Cerbone, city spokeswoman.

The Speedway crosswalks are on a state-maintained stretch of International Speedway Boulevard/U.S. Highway 92, so are not maintained by Volusia County, said Clayton Jackson, county spokesman.

By Wednesday, the county hadn’t received any notification from FDOT identifying any non-compliant crosswalks on roads that it maintains, Jackson said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.