By MARK LONG
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year]
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Flying a few hundred feet above the streets and shores of Daytona Beach, the Goodyear Blimp draws a crowd.
Onlookers stare and point. Drivers pull over for better looks, snapping pictures, recording videos and trying to line up the perfect selfie. For some, it’s nostalgic. For others, it’s a glimpse at a larger-than-life advertising icon.
At 100 years old, the blimp is an ageless star in the sky. And the 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 on Sunday — roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its latest and greatest anniversary tour.
Even though remote camera technologies — drones, mostly — are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
“It’s great to show the pack racing,” Fox Sports director Artie Kempner said, adding that he expected to use aerial shots from the blimp about 50 times during Sunday’s race.
The Goodyear Blimp has been a regular at major sporting events since flying above the 1955 Rose Bowl. A few years later, it became a service vehicle for television coverage while simultaneously functioning as a highly visible advertising platform. It’s been at every Daytona 500 since 1962.
During that streak, blimps have undergone wholesale changes and improved dramatically: steering technology, safety innovations, high-definition cameras, gyro-stabilized aerial views and much quieter rides thanks to relocated engines and propellers.
Nowadays, riding on the blimp isn’t much different from traveling on a small plane. The 12-seater comes with reclining seats, tray tables, seatbelts, a safety briefing and a bathroom with amazing views. A few windows serve as the only air conditioning onboard. The blimp offers a smooth ride even at top speed, creeping along at 73 mph — well below the cars pushing 200 mph on the track.
“It’s an iconic symbol for our nation, a floating piece of Americana,” blimp pilot Jensen Kervern said. “There’s nothing like it in the world.”
The blimp has covered more than 2,500 events and taken more than 500,000 passengers for rides, according to Goodyear. Former President Ronald Reagan might be the most famous passenger, and rapper Ice Cube raised the blimp’s street cred when he included a line about it in his 1992 song titled “It Was A Good Day.”
But not just anyone can climb aboard. Rides are invitation only even though phones at blimp headquarters — the three U.S.-based airships are housed in California, Florida and Ohio — ring off the hook with people inquiring about buying a ride.
As part of the blimp’s 100-year anniversary celebration, however, Goodyear is giving three U.S. residents a chance to join the exclusive club and win a ride. The sweepstakes will provide each winner a certificate for two to fly on the blimp. The prize also includes $3,000 for travel expenses to one of Goodyear’s airship hangars.
It would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, no doubt.
The blimp flies low enough to spot pods of dolphins or flotillas of sea turtles in the Atlantic Ocean. The view over Daytona International Speedway is equally stunning, with the ability to see every inch of the famed track while watching (and hearing) race cars turning laps.
Already in 2025, the Goodyear fleet has flown over the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Pro Bowl and Pebble Beach. Its upcoming schedule includes the Academy Awards, Coachella and WrestleMania.
But will the blimp survive another 100 years?
Drone imagery and resolution continue to improve along with maneuverability, stability and flight longevity. And where drones can be flown by one person, the Goodyear Blimp crew at Daytona tops 20 staffers.
But given the blimp’s longevity, adaptability and celebrity, no one should bet against it sticking around for generations to come.
“Despite changes in technology and our environment, people still get so excited to see the blimp,” Kervern said. “It’s just an iconic symbol for our nation.”
___AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
