A Harley-Davidson Sportster won the first Daytona 200 held at Daytona International Speedway in 1961.
The race was won by American rider Roger Reiman on a Harley-Davidson Sportster. It was the first Daytona 200 staged on the newly opened speedway, replacing the earlier beach-and-road course used for the event.
The Sportster was introduced in 1957 as Harley-Davidson’s lighter performance-oriented motorcycle family. Its racing success helped demonstrate that the model could compete beyond ordinary street use, particularly in the demanding conditions of American road racing.
This result is sometimes confused with Harley-Davidson’s later dominance in American flat-track racing, which is strongly associated with the XR-750. The XR-750 did not win this inaugural speedway edition; the relevant motorcycle was the Sportster.