DAYTONA BEACH — The truck meet that attracted thousands of modified, big-wheeled, jacked up pick-ups and their drivers to the area got plenty of police attention as officers wrote more than 2,000 citations adding to the pile of complaints from locals.
The number of citations issued this weekend for the Daytona Truck Meet — this year with organized events at Daytona International Speedway — more than quadrupled over the three-day truck event held in July 2017 at the Ocean Center. Last year, residents complained of rude behavior by the visitors, including public drinking and urination, and littering.
Volusia County leaders vowed never to host such a group again at the Ocean Center, which runs the beachside convention center.
When the smoke cleared on this year's event, 2,151 citations were issued Thursday through Sunday, a 381 percent jump, compared to 447 tickets given out over three-day event in 2017. Daytona Beach police also made 77 arrests and dealt with 23 crashes throughout the city, officials said on Monday.
"Citations were given out for reasons ranging from equipment failure to careless driving," said Daytona Beach police Chief Craig Capri.
Although some hoteliers said they welcomed the post-Memorial Day business, the truck event resurrected concerns and complaints about the behavior of the visitors, said Volusia County Councilwoman Billie Wheeler.
Capri said he was out working with his officers all day Saturday and Saturday night. He said traffic for the event was heavy, with 5,000 to 10,000 trucks in town.
Organizers of the truck event, on their website, dubbed this year's Daytona Beach truck gathering as the largest in the country, saying 15,000 spectators were among the vendors and customized vehicles from around country.
Speedway 'facility rental'
At Daytona International Speedway, which rented its facility to host the event, officials had no complaints about how it unfolded, said Speedway spokesman Andrew Booth.
"We experienced no significant issues with last weekend’s Daytona Truck Meet event," Booth said by email. "The event was a facility rental which provided an outlet for thousands of truck enthusiasts to conduct their event within an unique venue. We have done facility rentals similar to last weekend’s event with other enthusiasts groups."
As for the prospect of the event's return, Booth said the Truck Meet would be evaluated "on a year-to-year basis, as we do with all facility rentals."
There was no response Monday to a message sent to the Daytona Truck Meet's website.
The heavy traffic also led to multiple crashes, mostly rear-endings. A Daytona Beach police officer's unmarked car was also rammed from behind, sustaining extensive damage, Capri said.
"Fortunately there were no injuries reported during the event," Capri said.
According to figures provided by the Daytona Beach Police Department, police made 13 felony arrests and 64 on misdemeanor charges.
Aside from illegal acts, rude behavior stood out.
Disruptions related to the truck event affected the weekend at the 744-room Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, the area’s largest hotel, said Jim Berkley, the hotel’s general manager.
“Unfortunately, our hotel staff did experience several verbally abusive and profane interactions with truck owners and truck event attendees this past weekend,” Berkley said by email on Monday. “Not painting with a wide brush here, but it seems there are some truck event guests that behave in a discourteous manner unlike other motor vehicle-driven events in town, where those types of negative interactions are quite rare.”
Berkley also was unhappy about the timing of this year’s event.
“I also feel that the truck event organization's selected dates were poorly timed due to falling directly on top of multiple high school graduation ceremonies at the Ocean Center,” Berkley said. “We have seen this now for two consecutive years with this event: the traffic congestion, the extended law enforcement presence and the uncivil antics by some of the truck attendees that accompany this event.
“I can't support the return of this event to our destination at this time,” Berkley said.
Unwelcome event
Wheeler, who said last year she didn't want the event to return, said she was concerned when she learned that the truck meet was being held in Daytona Beach again this year. Part of the concern was a message with threatening undertones Wheeler got after she opposed the event last year.
That message, which Wheeler sent to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, stated that if the truck event was stopped, there would be "riots and armed rebellion."
Despite reassurances from police because the Speedway was to be the new venue, Wheeler said she didn't think the event would run smoothly.
"I wasn't feeling confident and I sure got phone calls and messages from constituents and residents," Wheeler said. "I was told some people even left their hotels. We just can't have that kind of thing for our citizens and tourists," Wheeler said. "That's not who we are."
The truck event created unwelcome problems at the 90-room Daytona Beach Regency, at 400 N. Atlantic Ave. There, issues included profanity, alcohol use, “profane music” blasting from truck sound systems, trucks occupying multiple parking spaces and altercations among attendees, said John Betros, the hotel’s general manager.
“The people there for this truck event have a pretty serious disregard for the experience of other guests that are not a part of the event,” Betros said on Monday. “I heard several guests say they will never be back. This is becoming a serious concern.
“I get where we’re all driven by occupancy and revenue, but I’m having a really tough time reconciling revenue versus the long-term impact,” Betros said. “I heard a lot of guests saying that they’ll never be back. ‘We’re going to Clearwater’; ‘I told you we should have gone to Disney World.’ That type of stuff.”
Echoing that sentiment, Bob Davis, president of the Lodging & Hospitality Association of Volusia County, reported on Monday that he had received “tons of complaints” from residents and community leaders.
“It’s not a good event for Daytona Beach,” Davis said. “I don’t know how we do away with it. It’s the type of event that we’ve been trying to get away from, that type of stuff, but we just cannot."
From Memorial Day bust to boost
The response was more positive, however, from Manoj Bhoola, president and chief operating officer at Elite Hospitality, which operates two oceanfront hotels in Ormond Beach and three hotels on the mainland in Daytona Beach, close to the airport and Daytona International Speedway.
“The weekend’s truck event gave a necessary business boost to our hotels, especially after a dismal Memorial Day weekend which did not bring in ample families to our area,” Bhoola said by email. “We did not experience any unusual negative disruptions by truck event attendees, and have heard positive remarks from our customers whom filled One Daytona's stores and area restaurants.”
At One Daytona, the shopping and entertainment complex across the street from Daytona International Speedway, the truck event was a factor in a "great weekend," said Gentry Baumline-Robinson, communications manager for International Speedway Corp.
"We saw increased traffic throughout the weekend at One Daytona as we celebrated the grand opening of retail stores Clair de Lune and Kasa Living," Baumline-Robinson said. "The Fairfield Inn & Suites realized a large number of room nights last weekend related to the Daytona Truck Meet, with some arriving as early as Tuesday."
The truck event also boosted business at hotels owned and managed by Ormond Beach-based Premier Resorts & Management, said Domien Takx, the company’s vice president of operations. Premier properties include Hilton Garden Inn; Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites; Best Western Daytona Inn Seabreeze; and Ocean Breeze Club Hotel, all in Daytona Beach; as well as the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Daytona Beach Shores.
“All of our oceanfront hotels saw an increase in bookings as a direct result of the Monster Truck Event,” Takx said by email. “It was earlier this year, which helped us, as we typically sell out all weekends in the summer and for us, this past weekend was better due to the event.”
Yet Premier properties also experienced the event’s downside, Takx said.
“Noise complaints and some vandalism accompanied the event,” Takx said. “We believe that the event has merit, and more organized events for the attendees — at the International Speedway, for example — would help. Local police was instrumental in keeping the beach area patrolled.”