Daytona 500 Trivia
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56 free Daytona 500 trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
The Daytona 500 is the race NASCAR starts its season with, and the one every driver wants most. This quiz covers it from the beginning: Bill France Sr.'s superspeedway rising out of the Florida sand in 1959, Lee Petty's photo finish that took three days to decide, Junior Johnson discovering the draft, Richard Petty's seven wins, the 1979 last-lap crash and infield fistfight that put stock car racing on live national television, and Cale Yarborough's 200 mph lap. It also covers the modern era: Dale Earnhardt's win at the twentieth attempt and his death on the final lap three years later, Michael Waltrip's first victory after 462 winless starts, Trevor Bayne winning the day after his 20th birthday, the jet-dryer fire of 2012, Danica Patrick's pole, Denny Hamlin's 0.010-second finish, and the trophy named for the man who designed the Corvette. There are questions on the track's 31-degree banking, Lake Lloyd, the qualifying Duels, the green-white-checkered rule and the record books. If you want the whole sport, our NASCAR quiz covers the championship, the other tracks and the drivers. About a third of the questions are easy for anyone who watches every February, a third are medium and the rest are for people who know who won in 1972 by two laps. Every answer is checked against the race and driver reference pages, and each question carries its source.
30 of 56 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which US state is Daytona International Speedway?
Florida
Florida is home to the race because it grew out of speed trials and stock car races on the hard-packed sand of Daytona Beach, which moved inland once the speedway was built.
Q 02Twenty of the 59 starters in the first Daytona 500 were what kind of car?
Convertibles
Convertibles had their own NASCAR division at the time, and its cars were merged into the field for the first 500. Each type ran its own 100-mile qualifying race to set the grid.
Q 03How long is one lap of Daytona International Speedway?
2.5 miles
2.5 miles a lap is why the 500 runs to exactly 200 laps. The turns are banked at 31 degrees, which is what lets stock cars hold such high speeds all the way around.
Q 04What did Bobby Johns's car lose to a gust while he led late in the 1960 Daytona 500?
The rear window
The rear window went and the car spun out of the lead, letting the eventual winner drive past. Johns gathered it up and still finished second.
Q 05Which NASCAR founder built Daytona International Speedway to move the racing off the beach?
Bill France Sr.
Bill France Sr. saw new hotels crowding the old beach-and-road course and proposed a permanent track in 1953. The first Daytona 500 ran there six years later.
Q 06Who won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 after a photo finish that took three days to settle?
Lee Petty
Lee Petty was not the man in victory lane. Johnny Beauchamp was flagged the winner, and officials spent three days studying photographs and film before reversing the call.
Q 07Who discovered drafting on his way to winning the 1960 Daytona 500?
Junior Johnson
Junior Johnson found in practice that his car could not keep pace alone but was pulled along in a faster car's wake. He rode that discovery to the win, and drafting has decided superspeedway races since.
Q 08Who has won the Daytona 500 a record seven times?
Richard Petty
Richard Petty took his seventh in 1981 on a gamble. Crew chief Dale Inman skipped fresh tires at the last stop and took fuel only, and the seconds saved put Petty in front for good.
Q 09Which open-wheel star won the 1967 Daytona 500, his only NASCAR Cup victory?
Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti took the lead from his own teammate, 1965 winner Fred Lorenzen, with 33 laps left and pulled away. No other driver has won this race, the Indianapolis 500 and a Formula One title.
Q 10Who lapped the entire field to win the 1972 Daytona 500?
A. J. Foyt
A. J. Foyt, an Indianapolis 500 winner moonlighting in a stock car, traded the lead with his main challenger until that car broke a valve on lap 80. He led the last 120 laps and won by more than a lap.
Q 11Why was the 1974 Daytona 500 shortened to 450 miles?
The oil crisis
The oil crisis led NASCAR to trim its races by ten per cent to save fuel. Rather than call it a 180-lap race, officials scored the 500 as starting on lap 21.
Q 12Who won the 1976 Daytona 500 by limping across the line after a last-lap crash with his great rival?
David Pearson
David Pearson pushed in the clutch as he spun, so his engine never died. His rival's car stalled just short of the line and would not restart, and Pearson crawled past through the infield grass.
Q 13Which network carried the 1979 Daytona 500, the first shown live flag-to-flag on network TV?
CBS
CBS got lucky with the weather. A snowstorm kept much of the East Coast indoors, and a bigger audience than expected saw the leaders crash on the last lap and then trade punches in the infield.
Q 21Who won the 1989 Daytona 500 at his 17th attempt, driving car number 17, by stretching his final tank of fuel?
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip ran the last 53 laps without stopping. His fuel pressure dropped to zero twice in the final two laps, and his crew told him to shake the car to find the last drops.
Q 22Who passed Dale Earnhardt late in the 1991 Daytona 500 and won as Earnhardt spun behind him?
Ernie Irvan
Ernie Irvan, nicknamed Swervin' Irvan for causing crashes, was only a witness this time: Earnhardt spun while racing side by side for second. The wreck let Irvan coast home under caution, nearly out of fuel.
Q 23Who won the 1993 Daytona 500 as his father called the last lap on live television?
Dale Jarrett
Q 14Which two leaders crashed on the last lap of the 1979 Daytona 500, then fought?
Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison
Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison wrecked each other fighting for the lead. Bobby Allison pulled over to check on his brother, punches followed, and the third-place car drove past to win.
Q 15Who won the 1980 Daytona 500, still the fastest ever run at an average of 177.602 mph?
Buddy Baker
Buddy Baker had led the race in earlier years and never won it. In 1980 he led 143 of the 200 laps from the pole, and no 500 since has been run faster.
Q 16Where does the Daytona 500 fall on the NASCAR Cup Series calendar?
Season opener
The season opener has been the 500 every year since 1982, the reverse of most sports, which save the biggest event for last. Before that the season began weeks earlier on the road course at Riverside, California.
Q 17Which part fell off Bobby Allison's car early in the 1982 Daytona 500, sparking a cheating row?
The rear bumper
The rear bumper flew off on lap four, and the car ran faster without it. The runner-up accused the team of rigging it, which Allison denied, and he won by almost 23 seconds.
Q 18Who won the 1983 Daytona 500 in a backup car after flipping his primary at 200 mph in qualifying?
Cale Yarborough
Cale Yarborough had just run the first 200 mph qualifying lap at Daytona when he got airborne on the next one. He started eighth in a backup Pontiac, passed the leader on the last lap, and won again in 1984.
Q 19What did NASCAR mandate at Daytona in 1988, the year after Bill Elliott's record 210.364 mph pole lap?
A restrictor plate
Restrictor plates choke the air reaching the engine. NASCAR turned to them after a car got airborne at Talladega in 1987 and tore into the catch fence, which is why Elliott's lap still stands.
Q 20Bobby Allison became the oldest Daytona 500 winner in 1988 at 50. Who finished second?
His son Davey
Father and son celebrated together in Victory Lane; the same race saw Richard Petty roll about eight times in the tri-oval.
Dale Jarrett passed Dale Earnhardt on the final lap. His father Ned, a two-time champion working in the broadcast booth, dropped the neutral commentary and cheered his son all the way to the line.
Q 24Who took his first Cup win in the 1994 Daytona 500, then won the race again a year later?
Sterling Marlin
Sterling Marlin and his father Coo Coo had gone a combined 0 for 443 in Cup races. He ran the last 59 laps on one tank of fuel, then coasted onto pit road with the engine off.
Q 25Who won the 1997 Daytona 500 for a team owner at home fighting leukemia?
Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon led teammates Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven home in a one-two-three for the team. The owner, at home in North Carolina, congratulated him by cell phone in Victory Lane.
Q 26Who passed Tony Stewart with 20 laps left and held on to win the 2004 Daytona 500?
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won six years to the day after his father's only victory in the race. Stewart had led 98 laps, more than anyone, and chased him all the way to the line.
Q 27What injury killed Dale Earnhardt in the last-lap crash of the 2001 Daytona 500?
A basilar skull fracture
A basilar skull fracture is a break at the base of the skull, caused when the head whips forward in a sudden stop. He was the fourth NASCAR driver to die in nine months, and head-and-neck restraints became mandatory.
Q 28Who won his first Cup race in the 2001 Daytona 500, then won the rain-shortened 2003 race too?
Michael Waltrip
Michael Waltrip had gone 462 Cup races without a win before 2001. Rain stopped the 2003 race after 109 of its 200 laps, which makes it the shortest Daytona 500 ever run.
Q 29Who edged Mark Martin by 0.02 seconds to win the 2007 Daytona 500 as cars crashed behind them?
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick charged up the outside lane on the last lap and drew level off the final turn. Behind them Clint Bowyer slid across the finish line on his roof, on fire.
Q 30Who became the youngest Daytona 500 winner in 2011, one day after his 20th birthday?
Trevor Bayne
Trevor Bayne was making only his second Cup start, in a car his team had repaired after a wreck in his qualifying race. It was the Wood Brothers' first Daytona 500 win since 1976, and it remains his only Cup victory.