60 Fun Facts About Daytona 500

In which US state is Daytona International Speedway?

The 500 is one of three Cup races in the state, alongside the summer race at Daytona and the Homestead round near Miami.

In which year was the first Daytona 500 run, coinciding with the opening of the speedway?

It was only NASCAR's second 500-mile race, after the Southern 500, and was not commonly called the Daytona 500 until 1961.

How long is the Daytona tri-oval, meaning a 500-mile race takes 200 laps?

The turns are banked at 31 degrees and the start-finish line at 18.

The lake in the Daytona infield, dug out to build the banking, is named after which man?

Joseph 'Sax' Lloyd was one of the six original members of the Daytona Beach Speedway Authority; the 29-acre lake has hosted powerboat racing.

Which NASCAR founder built the speedway to replace racing on the Daytona Beach Road Course?

He had founded NASCAR itself in talks at the Streamline Hotel's Ebony Bar in December 1947 and proposed the superspeedway in 1953.

Who won the inaugural 1959 race, in a photo finish that took three days to decide?

Beauchamp was flagged the unofficial winner and drove to victory lane; photographs and newsreel footage reversed it the following Wednesday.

The 1960 race had how many starters, the most in Daytona 500 history?

Junior Johnson won in a slower year-old car by exploiting the draft, then a little-understood phenomenon.

Who has won the Daytona 500 a record seven times?

His wins spanned 1964 to 1981, the longest gap between first and last, and three different decades.

Which open-wheel great led 112 laps to win the 1967 Daytona 500, his only NASCAR Cup victory?

He would win the Indianapolis 500 two years later.

Who lapped the entire field to win the 1972 race by almost two laps?

Third-placed Jim Vandiver finished six laps down.

The 1974 race was cut to 450 miles for what reason?

Many 1974 races were cut ten per cent; the race symbolically 'started' on lap 21.

Which rival collided with the King on the last lap in 1976, then limped across the line first?

Petty's car would not restart; Pearson kept his running and crawled to the flag from the infield grass.

Which network carried the 1979 Daytona 500, the first shown live flag-to-flag on network TV?

A blizzard in the Northeast swelled the audience, which then watched a last-lap crash and an infield fistfight.

Who crashed together on the last lap in 1979 before fighting in the infield?

Bobby Allison stopped to defend his brother and joined in; Richard Petty, half a lap back, drove past to win.

Who won the fastest pre-stages Daytona 500 in 1980 at 177.602 mph?

The slowest winning average was Junior Johnson's 124.740 mph in 1960.

Since which year has the Daytona 500 been the opening race of the NASCAR season?

Holding the biggest event first is almost unique in sport; Bobby Allison won that year amid the 'Bumpergate' controversy.

Bobby Allison's 1982 win was controversial because which part of his car broke off on lap 3?

The bumper had been deliberately tacked on with a wire welder; without it the car gained an aerodynamic edge and won by 22 seconds.

Who officially broke the 200 mph barrier at Daytona with a 201.848 mph lap in 1984?

He had run over 200 in 1983 only to crash on his second lap and win in a backup Pontiac fetched from a Hardee's display.

Bill Elliott's 1987 pole speed of 210.364 mph remains the track record. What did NASCAR mandate the next year?

The plates stayed at Daytona through 2019 and were also used at Talladega.

Bobby Allison became the oldest Daytona 500 winner in 1988 at 50. Who finished second?

Father and son celebrated together in Victory Lane; the same race saw Richard Petty roll about eight times in the tri-oval.

Who won the 1990 race in a huge upset after Dale Earnhardt cut a tyre on the last lap?

Earnhardt had run over a bell housing from a blown engine in turn three; Cope's best previous finish was sixth.

What did Dale Earnhardt strike early in the 1991 race, contributing to his car temperature problems?

Ernie Irvan passed him with six laps left and won under caution after Earnhardt spun.

The 1993 finish, when Jarrett beat Earnhardt with a lap to go, became known as what?

It was the fourth time Earnhardt had led with fewer than ten laps left and lost; Jarrett won again in 1996 and 2000.

Who won in 1994 and 1995, the first back-to-back winner in eleven years?

His 1994 win was his first career Cup victory, achieved by stretching his last tank of fuel over 59 laps.

Jeff Gordon became the youngest winner to that point in 1997, at what age?

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven followed him home for a one-two-three.

On which attempt did Dale Earnhardt finally win the Daytona 500, in 1998?

Crews from every team lined pit road to shake his hand on the way to Victory Lane.

Who won the 2001 race, his first Cup victory in 463 starts, on the day Dale Earnhardt was killed?

He was driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.; Earnhardt Jr. was second and Earnhardt himself was running third when he crashed in turn four.

What injury killed Dale Earnhardt in the last-lap crash of the 2001 Daytona 500?

The death accelerated NASCAR's adoption of head-and-neck restraints and SAFER barriers.

The shortest Daytona 500 ever, cut to 109 laps by rain in 2003, was won by whom?

It was his second win in three years; rain has shortened the race in 1965, 1966, 2003 and 2009.

By what margin did Kevin Harvick beat Mark Martin to the line in 2007?

He was fifth with half a lap to go; the Big One erupted behind them as they crossed the line.

Who became the youngest Daytona 500 winner in 2011, one day after his 20th birthday?

He was driving for the Wood Brothers; the third lap that year was run in silence for the tenth anniversary of Earnhardt's death.

The 2012 race was delayed to Monday night, then stopped when Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into what?

The resulting fire kept the race going until about 1 a.m. Tuesday; Matt Kenseth won the only Daytona 500 run as a night race.

Who became the first woman to win the Daytona 500 pole, in 2013?

She also became the first woman to finish in the top ten; her last NASCAR race was the 2018 Daytona 500.

The closest Daytona 500 finish, a hundredth of a second in 2016, pitted Denny Hamlin against whom?

Hamlin passed Kenseth on the last lap after leading 95 laps; he won again in 2019 and 2020.

Austin Dillon's 2018 win put which car number back in Victory Lane, 20 years after Earnhardt's?

Dillon is Richard Childress's grandson and was photographed next to Earnhardt as a child after the 1998 win.

Who set the record for the fastest Daytona 500 of the stages era, 157.178 mph, in 2024?

He won again in 2025 to join the short list of back-to-back winners.

Which driver suffered a horrific last-lap crash in 2020 while Denny Hamlin took his third win?

He was taken to hospital and walked out two days later; the win was Hamlin's second in a row.

The longest Daytona 500 ever, 212 laps and 530 miles, was run in which year?

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won it in double overtime for his first Daytona 500 victory.

The winner's trophy since 1997 is named after Harley J. Earl. What was he famous for designing?

Earl was NASCAR's second commissioner; the car on the trophy is his Firebird I concept, often mistaken for Campbell's Blue Bird.

The perpetual Harley J. Earl Trophy is made in what shape?

It stands about four feet tall and five feet wide and leaves the speedway once a year for Victory Lane.

For how long is the winning car displayed in race-winning condition at the museum beside the track?

The winner also gets a replica trophy, an estimated $2.5 million, a championship ring and a black leather jacket.

Apart from 'The Great American Race', what is the Daytona 500's other common nickname?

'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' belongs to the Indianapolis 500; 'the Big One' is Daytona slang for a multi-car pile-up.

How long have the two Thursday qualifying races that set most of the Daytona 500 field been since 2005?

They were 100 miles from 1959 to 1967 and 125 from 1969 to 2004; only the front row is set by timed qualifying.

Which rule, adopted in 2004, has pushed the race past 500 miles on more than ten occasions?

Overtime made 2010 a 520-mile race and 2023 a 530-mile one.

Which manufacturer has the most Daytona 500 wins?

Chevrolet's 27 wins started in 1960; Ford is second with 17.

Which team has the most Daytona 500 wins, ten?

Petty Enterprises is second with nine.

How many drivers, through 2026, have won the Daytona 500 in consecutive years?

Petty, Yarborough, Marlin, Hamlin and William Byron; nobody has won three in a row.

The 2022 race was the first with which new car?

Rookie Austin Cindric won in only his eighth Cup start; the Car of Tomorrow had debuted at the 50th running in 2008.

Which US president served as Grand Marshal and had his limousine pace the opening lap in 2020?

George W. Bush had been Grand Marshal in 2004; rain then postponed the 2020 race to Monday.

In which year were lights installed at Daytona, allowing later finishes?

The 2005 race was the first to end at sunset and 2007 the first to reach prime time.

The 1979 CBS broadcast introduced which now-standard pieces of TV equipment?

The Indianapolis 500 was still shown on tape delay that evening.

Which race preceded the Daytona 500 as NASCAR's first 500-mile event?

The 1959 Daytona race was only called the Daytona 500 from about 1961, having grown out of 200-milers on the beach road course.

From 1959 to 2016, after how many laps was the Daytona 500 considered an official race?

Stage racing moved that to the end of Stage 2 (120 laps) from 2017-19 before a 2020 revision made it whichever came first.

Which former Daytona 500 winner blew a tyre on the lap 3 'silent lap' of the 2021 race, his final start?

It uncannily echoed Dale Earnhardt's last-lap tyre failure that handed Cope the 1990 win; Michael McDowell won after midnight.

Which president was the first to serve as Daytona 500 Grand Marshal, in 2004?

Donald Trump became the second in 2020, with the presidential limousine pacing the opening lap.

The 2019 Daytona 500 was the last to use what piece of speed-limiting equipment, mandated since 1988?

William Byron and Alex Bowman made up the youngest front row ever, and Denny Hamlin won his second 500 in overtime.

Which driver won the 2017 Daytona 500, the first with stage cautions, as Elliott, Truex and Larson ran dry?

A long green run to the finish left the leaders in fuel trouble in the last four laps.

The 2008 Daytona 500 was the first run with which new NASCAR chassis?

The 50th running was also the first race under the Sprint Cup Series banner after the Sprint-Nextel merger.

What distance did the Thursday qualifying duels cover from 1969 to 2004?

They were 100-milers from 1959 to 1967 and were rained out entirely in 1968.

The 2001-06 TV deal that alternated the race between Fox and NBC was worth how much?

Fox got odd years and NBC even years, before a 2005 deal made Fox the sole broadcaster from 2007.