The Great Blimp Race

Time was the Daytona 500 race was the blimpspotter’s dream come true. The 200,000 strong crowds always attracted the Goodyear airship, and over the years others joined in. The Lightship Group hit on a novel publicity stunt with what they billed as “The Great Blimp Race,“ in which two Lightships were pulled out of race-circling duty to run a course along the nearby Daytona Beach. The effort paid off with local news coverage. The producer was supposed to be filing the race from a helicopter, but the chopper never showed and he was left waiting at the masts. This video covers the rather unique two-mast setup at Daytona Int’l Airport in the midst of coverage from Goodyear and Skyship.