DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A shining silver Firebird I prototype sits atop the pristine Harley J. Earl trophy, awarded to the winner of the Daytona 500.
News 6 Sports Director Jamie Seh talked with John Lajba, the sculptor of the Firebird I for almost 30 years.
“I’ve worked on it so hard, so many months,” Lajba told Seh inside the FanZone at Daytona International Speedway. “All the hand-sanding, all the finishing. I have a whole group of people that help me every year. We want to make it the best.”
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Although Lajba is from Nebraska, he has been sculpting many statues in Daytona for years, including the Dale Earnhardt statue at the Daytona International Speedway, the Mary McLeod Bethune statue at Bethune-Cookman University, and the Vince Carter statue at Mainland High School.
“To actually see a driver that’s going to pick up my heavy trophy, lift it over their head, maybe douse it with Gatorade, and to make it theirs… it’s such a gift for me to be affecting their lives in such an important way,” Labja said. “I can’t describe it.”
See the video above of Seh and Lajba talking about the trophy.
You can listen to every episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate in the media player below:
Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
