DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – On a historical night at the “World Center of Racing,” Sammy Halbert won the inaugural 25-lap AMA Pro Racing Flat Track Expert Main event at Daytona International Speedway on the new Daytona Dirt Track.

The AMA Pro Flat Track event, staged on a quarter-mile lime rock track located outside Turns 1 and 2, was the first on the grounds of Daytona International Speedway.

Pole sitter Joe Kopp, on a Honda, took the lead on the start and led the first seven laps before Halbert, on a Yamaha, took the lead on Lap 8 and held on the rest of the way for his first win at Daytona. The margin of victory was 2.008 seconds.

“It means so much,” Halbert said of being the first winner on the Daytona Flat Track. “It’s great to see this dream come true and put Yamaha on top of the box where it belongs.”

Taking second was Kawasaki’s Henry Wiles, who won both rounds at Daytona last year, and Suzuki’s Jake Johnson was third.

“Sammy had his bike set up for this track,” Wiles said.

Rounding out the top five was Jethro Halbert on a Yamaha and Kopp.

The Flat Track events, which have been held in Daytona Beach for more than 30 years, are being staged for the first time on the grounds of Daytona International Speedway. The Flat Track was first held at Memorial Stadium, which was located near Daytona State College. In the late 1980s, the event moved to the newly constructed Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium.