Trump starts Daytona, race for Florida votes
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump put his showmanship skills on full display on Sunday at the Daytona International Speedway, leading the famous stock car drivers in a lap around the 2.5-mile racetrack. A sold-out crowd of 101,500 people cheered his appearance in a state he must win this year to secure reelection.
Serving as the grand marshal for the kickoff race of the NASCAR season, Trump arrived at the packed stands after a rare
Air Force One flyover and later rounded the track in his limousine, nicknamed The Beast, to raucous cheers from the crowd. Shortly after the president told drivers to “start your engines,” Air Force Thunderbirds roared overhead.
“NASCAR fans, never forget that no matter who wins the race, what matters most is God, family and country,” Trump said to the thousands in the stands and group of invited guests and members of the military at Victory Lane before the race started.
He called it a moment of “pure American glory” and said “the cars will take to the tracks, the tires will screech, rubber will burn, fans will cheer.”
“Good luck, and may the best team win,” he said.
The appearance at the NASCAR event, also known as the Great American Race, was a highly choreographed showing by the sitting president and part of a concerted effort by his reelection campaign to solidify support among his core voters. What wasn’t choreographed was the rain, which caused delays in the race twice until officials decided to wait until Monday to complete it.
Trump won Florida’s 29 electoral votes in 2016, narrowly defeating Hillary Clinton in a state that was critical to his victory. Late last year, Trump announced that he was moving his official residence from New York to Florida, where he owns several golf clubs and his Mar-a-lago estate in Palm Beach.
Recent polls in Florida show Trump hovering around 49% or 50% when matched against the leading Democratic presidential candidates, underscoring how close the state is likely to be again this year. A survey at the end of January showed Trump defeating all four of the top Democratic contenders.
Much of that support probably comes from conservative parts of Florida, where NASCAR racing is extremely popular.