Top 100 Local Stories of 2014

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Maybe it was the full moon. Whatever the reason, one of the most bizarre scenes in the last 20 years took place on the track at Daytona International Speedway during the final stage of the Sprint Unlimited: The pace car caught fire.

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HOLLY HILL, Fla. -- Like a scene out of a horror movie, a Holly Hill married couple raised their 4- and 6-year-old boys in the same house with a corpse until Halloween 2013, when cops moved in with warrants for their arrests on drug charges -- at that time unaware the body was in the residence as well.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Triumph rider Danny Eslick dominated the 73rd Daytona 200 AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike race at Daytona International Speedway, winning from the pole.

Headline Surfer® graphic / The locator map at left shows the area south of the 500 block of Osteen-Maytown Road where the body of a man was found floating in shallow water on Aug. 1, 2014. 

 OSTEEN, Fla -- A body found floating in a water-filled pit on a Saturday afternoon on the first day of August turned out to be that of a homeless man who was spotted by a bystander.

The victim was identified as 56-year-old Robert Lewis Williams, a Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said.

Witnesses said they saw Willims going into the shallow water, perhaps to cool off from the hot Florida sun the afternoon before.

"Williams (had) family who live close by where the body was found, but he had no known permanent address," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. 

Videos by IndyCars for Headline Surfer® / 1st video: Highlights of the 2014 running of the Indianapolis 500, including several crashes and the dramatic finish that saw the Ryan Hunter-Reay take the checkered flag in the second-closest finish ever. 2nd video: Post-race interviews with Hunter-Reay and several other drivers. 

INDIANAPOLIS -- A Florida racer, Ryan Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 28 for team owner Michael Andretti, won the Indianapolis 500 in a nail-biter over Helio Castroneves.

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NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Firefighters in this seaside city raised $8,651 during the Labor Day weekend to support the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

As part of the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association’s charity boot drive, firefighters braved the heat and stood at the intersection of Old Mission Road and State Road 44 on Aug. 30-31, with their boots at the ready. And passing motorists graciously donated money to help children and families who have been affected by muscular dystrophy.

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NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- For the second year in a row, New Smyrna Beach Police Motor Officer Josh Holloway earned top honors at the annual Space Coast Motorcycle Rodeo the weekend of Oct. 11 in Melbourne.

Holloway walked away with several awards including “Mr. Rodeo” – the top rider award.

The New Smyrna Beach motors cop's riding achievements skill comes in at No. 73 in the HeadlineSurfer.com countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2014.