We stay in St. Augustine the night before. It is a beautiful historic town and only 1hr drive on 95 to get to the track. Next year you wont have the option to sit on the back stretch as they are building new seating on the front and are doing away with the back stretch seating. Who knows what they will do with ticket prices. This is a problem with NASCAR. Way over priced.. Back stretch tickets you can find on stub hub, scalper or craiglist for $100 or less. Front name your price.. We have parked in the free parking on both sided. The back stretch was easier to get in and out of. Again its all going to change this coming year. Not sure how they will handle parking. If you want to stay in Daytona or close by I would say motel room will be in the $300 per night range.. If you can get in to the best western in New Smyrna beach I would recommend it. Great people and great few of the ocean. It is a small beach community that is safe and clean.