Daytona 500

For the motorcycle race, see Daytona 200. For the song by Ghostface Killah, see Daytona 500 (song).
Daytona 500
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Venue Daytona International Speedway
Location Daytona Beach, Florida, United States
First race 1959 (1959)
Distance 500 miles (800 km)
Laps 200
Previous names Inaugural 500 Mile International Sweepstakes (1959)
Second Annual 500 Mile International Sweepstakes (1960)
Daytona 500 by STP (1991–1993)
Daytona 500 by Dodge (2001)
Daytona 500 by Toyota (2007)
Daytona 500 (1961–1990, 1994–2000, 2002–2006, 2008–present)
Most wins (driver) Richard Petty (7)
Most wins (team) Petty Enterprises (9)
Most wins (manufacturer) Chevrolet (23)
Circuit information
Surface Asphalt
Length 2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Turns 4

The Daytona 500 is a 500-mile-long (805 km) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Sprint Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero 400. It is one of the four restrictor plate races on the Sprint Cup schedule. The inaugural Daytona 500 was held in 1959 coinciding with the opening of the speedway and since 1982, it has been the season-opening race of the Cup series.[1]

The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar, carrying by far the largest purse.[2] Championship points awarded are equal to that of any other Sprint Cup race. It is also the series' first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since 1995, U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500 which in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and international viewing. The 2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.[3]

The race serves as the final event of Speedweeks and is sometimes known as the "Great American Race" or the "Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing".[4][5][6] Since the first race, all 58 runnings of the Daytona 500 have been held in the month of February. From 1971 to 2011, it was associated with Presidents Day weekend, taking place on the Sunday before the third Monday in February. Beginning in 2012, the race was pushed up a week, to the last Sunday of February. Because of inclement weather conditions on February 26, the 2012 Daytona 500 was postponed until the evening of Monday, February 27,[7] The 2013 Daytona 500 was held on February 24, the first time the race was held on the last Sunday of February.

The winner of the Daytona 500 is presented with the Harley J. Earl Trophy in Victory Lane, and the winning car is displayed in race-winning condition for one year at Daytona 500 Experience, a museum and gallery adjacent to Daytona International Speedway.

Origins

Aerial view of Daytona International Speedway

The race is the direct successor of shorter races held on the Daytona Beach Road Course. This long square was partially on the sand and also on the highway near the beach. Earlier events featured 200-mile (320 km) races with stock cars. Eventually, a 500-mile (805 km) stock car race was held at Daytona International Speedway in 1959. It was the second 500-mile NASCAR race, following the annual Southern 500, and has been held every year since. By 1961, it began to be referred to as the Daytona 500,[8] by which it is still commonly known.

Daytona International Speedway is 2.5 miles (4 km) long and a 500-mile race[9] requires 200 laps to complete. However, the race is considered official after half its distance (100 laps and 250 miles (400 km)) has been completed. The race has been shortened four times due to rain (in 1965, 1966, 2003, and 2009) and once in response to the energy crisis of 1974. Since the adaptation of the green–white–checker finish rule in 2004, the race has gone past 500 miles on seven occasions (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015).

History

Main article: Daytona 500 history
Trevor Bayne, driving the No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing, won the 2011 Daytona 500.

Qualifying procedure

Main article: Can-Am Duel

The qualifying procedure is unique for the Daytona 500. Some teams must race their way into the Daytona 500 field. The first row is set by a timed round of qualifying, held one week before the race (prior to 2003, this was two rounds; prior to 2001, it was three). The remainder of the field is set by two separate qualifying races (these were 100 miles (160 km) from 1959 to 1967; 125 miles (201 km) from 1969 to 2004; and 150 miles (240 km) with two lap overtime, if necessary, beginning in 2005 (these races were not held in 1968 due to rain). The top two drivers from the qualifying races who were not in the top 35 in owner points were given spots on the field, and the rest of the field was set by the finishing order of the duels, with guaranteed spots to those in the top 35. The remaining spots, 40 to 43, were filled by top qualifying times of those not already in the field from the qualifying race. If there was a previous NASCAR champion without a spot, he would get one of those four spots, otherwise, the fourth fastest car was added to the field.

Prior to 2005 – and beginning again in 2013 – after the top two cars were set, the top fourteen cars in the qualifying races advance to the field, and then between six (1998–2003), eight (1995–97, 2004) or 10 (until 1994) fastest cars which do not advance from the qualifying race are added, then cars in the top 35 in owner points not locked into the race, and then the driver with the championship provisional, except for 1985 when no such car was eligible for a provisional starting spot, the only time that happened in the Daytona 500 from when the provisional was added in 1976 through 2004.

Television

The Daytona 500 was the first 500-mile (800 km) auto race to be televised live flag-to-flag on network television when CBS aired it in 1979, continuing to air until 2000.

From 2001 to 2006, the race alternated between FOX and NBC under the terms of a six–year, $2.48 billion NASCAR television contract, with FOX broadcasting the Daytona 500 in odd-numbered years (2001, 2003, 2005) and the Pepsi 400 in even-numbered years (2002, 2004, 2006) and NBC broadcasting the opposite race in that year.

In 2005, a new television contract was signed, which made FOX the sole broadcaster of the Daytona 500 for eight years, from 2007 to 2014. In 2013, 10 more years were added to the contract, giving FOX every Daytona 500 from 2015 to 2024 as well, for a total of at least 18 Daytona 500s in a row. The installation of the lighting system at Daytona International Speedway in 1998, as well as the implementations of the television packages in 2001 and 2007 respectively, have resulted in the race starting and ending much later than it did in the race's early years. The race started at 12:15 p.m. EST from 1979 until 2000. The start time was moved to 1:00 p.m. Eastern time from 2001 to 2004, 2:30 p.m. in 2005 and 2006 and 3:30 p.m. from 2007 to 2009, all for the convenience of west coast viewers. The 2005 race ended at sunset for the first time in its history, and the 2006 race ended well after sunset.

Every Daytona 500 between 2006 and 2010, as well as the 2012 and 2014 races, ended under the lights. The changing track conditions caused by the onset of darkness in the closing laps in these years forced the crew chiefs to predict the critical car setup adjustments needed for their final two pit stops. The 2007 race was the first Daytona 500 to go into prime-time, ending at 7:07 p.m. Eastern time. In 2010, the race moved back to a 1:00 p.m. start time, which should have resulted in it ending in daylight; however, two red flags caused by track surface issues led to long delays that pushed the race to 7:34 p.m. EST, pushing the race into prime-time for the second time. The 2012 race was also scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 26, but heavy rain in the area caused the race to be postponed to 7:00 p.m. EST on Monday, February 27, making it the first Daytona 500 to be postponed to a Monday, as well as the first (and only) Daytona 500 to be run as a night race. Due to a two–hour red flag period after a jet dryer fire on the track with 40 laps remaining, the race did not end until about 12:40 a.m. on Tuesday, February 28. The 2013 race marked a return to the race's past tradition of ending in the late afternoon, as it ended at about 4:40 p.m., the race's earliest ending time since 2004. Although the 2014 race started around 1:30 p.m. EST, heavy rain and a tornado warning red–flagged the race after 38 laps and it was delayed for a record six hours and 22 minutes; the race finished the entire 500–mile distance around after 11:00 p.m. the same day, which effectively competed with the time delayed East Coast broadcast of NBC's coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, scheduled between 7:00 and 10:30 p.m. The 2015 race started on time around 1:00  p.m., and ended after 203 laps due to a Green–white–checkered finish.

The television ratings for the Daytona 500 have surpassed those of the larger Indianapolis 500 (which has much larger physical attendance and international attendance) since 1995, even though the 1995 race was available in far fewer homes than the year before. Then-broadcaster CBS had lost well-established VHF (channels 2–13) affiliates in major markets as a result of the Fox affiliate switches of 1994. As an example, new affiliates WDJT in Milwaukee and WGNX in Atlanta — both cities that are home to NASCAR races — and WWJ in Detroit, close to Michigan International Speedway, were on the UHF band (channels 14–69), meaning that they had a significantly reduced broadcast area compared to former affiliates WITI, WAGA-TV, and WJBK, respectively. WDJT was not available in many Wisconsin markets by the time the Daytona 500 took place.

Pole position holders

List of Daytona 500 winners

For NASCAR Grand National winners at Daytona from 1949–1958, see Daytona Beach and Road Course.

Year Date Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)
Report
Laps Miles (Km)
1959 February 22 15th 42 Lee Petty Petty Enterprises Oldsmobile 200 500 (805) 3:41:22 135.521 Report
1960 February 24 9th 27 Junior Johnson John Masoni Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 4:00:30 124.74 Report
1961 February 26 4th 20 Marvin Panch Smokey Yunick Pontiac 200 500 (805) 3:20:32 149.601 Report
1962 February 18 Pole 22 Fireball Roberts Jim Stephens Pontiac 200 500 (805) 3:10:41 152.529 Report
1963 February 24 12th 21 Tiny Lund Wood Brothers Racing Ford 200 500 (805) 3:17:56 151.566 Report
1964 February 23 2nd 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises (2) Plymouth 200 500 (805) 3:14:23 154.334 Report
1965 February 14 4th 28 Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody Ford 133* 332.5 (535) 2:22:56 141.539 Report
1966 February 27 Pole 43 Richard Petty (2) Petty Enterprises (3) Plymouth 198* 495 (797) 3:04:54 160.927 Report
1967 February 26 12th 11 Mario Andretti Holman-Moody (2) Ford 200 500 (805) 3:24:11 146.926 Report
1968 February 25 Pole 21 Cale Yarborough Wood Brothers Racing (2) Mercury 200 500 (805) 3:23:44 143.251 Report
1969 February 23 19th 98 LeeRoy Yarbrough Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 200 500 (805) 3:09:56 157.95 Report
1970 February 22 9th 40 Pete Hamilton Petty Enterprises (4) Plymouth 200 500 (805) 3:20:32 149.601 Report
1971 February 14 5th 43 Richard Petty (3) Petty Enterprises (5) Plymouth 200 500 (805) 3:27:40 144.462 Report
1972 February 20 2nd 21 A. J. Foyt Wood Brothers Racing (3) Mercury 200 500 (805) 3:05:42 161.55 Report
1973 February 18 7th 43 Richard Petty (4) Petty Enterprises (6) Dodge 200 500 (805) 3:10:50 157.205 Report
1974 February 17 2nd 43 Richard Petty (5) Petty Enterprises (7) Dodge 180* 450 (724) 3:11:38 140.894 Report
1975 February 16 32nd 72 Benny Parsons L.G. DeWitt Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:15:15 153.649 Report
1976 February 15 7th 21 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing (4) Mercury 200 500 (805) 3:17:08 152.181 Report
1977 February 20 4th 11 Cale Yarborough (2) Junior Johnson & Associates (2) Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:15:48 153.218 Report
1978 February 19 33rd 15 Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering Ford 200 500 (805) 3:07:49 159.73 Report
1979 February 18 13th 43 Richard Petty (6) Petty Enterprises (8) Oldsmobile 200 500 (805) 3:28:22 143.977 Report
1980 February 17 Pole 28 Buddy Baker Ranier-Lundy Oldsmobile 200 500 (805) 2:48:55 177.602‡ Report
1981 February 15 8th 43 Richard Petty (7) Petty Enterprises (9) Buick 200 500 (805) 2:56:50 169.651 Report
1982 February 14 7th 88 Bobby Allison (2) DiGard Motorsports Buick 200 500 (805) 3:14:49 153.991 Report
1983 February 20 8th 28 Cale Yarborough (3) Ranier-Lundy (2) Pontiac 200 500 (805) 3:12:20 155.979 Report
1984 February 19 Pole 28 Cale Yarborough (4) Ranier-Lundy (3) Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:18:41 150.994 Report
1985 February 17 Pole 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 200 500 (805) 2:54:09 172.265 Report
1986 February 16 2nd 5 Geoffrey Bodine Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:22:32 148.124 Report
1987 February 15 Pole 9 Bill Elliott (2) Melling Racing (2) Ford 200 500 (805) 2:50:12 176.263 Report
1988 February 14 3rd 12 Bobby Allison (3) Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 200 500 (805) 3:38:08 137.531 Report
1989 February 19 2nd 17 Darrell Waltrip Hendrick Motorsports (2) Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:22:04 148.466 Report
1990 February 18 12th 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:00:59 165.761 Report
1991 February 17 2nd 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:22:30 148.148 Report
1992 February 16 6th 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 200 500 (805) 3:07:12 160.256 Report
1993 February 14 2nd 18 Dale Jarrett Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:13:35 154.972 Report
1994 February 20 4th 4 Sterling Marlin Morgan-McClure Motorsports (2) Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:11:10 156.931 Report
1995 February 19 3rd 4 Sterling Marlin (2) Morgan-McClure Motorsports (3) Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:31:42 141.71 Report
1996 February 18 7th 88 Dale Jarrett (2) Robert Yates Racing (2) Ford 200 500 (805) 3:14:25 154.308 Report
1997 February 16 6th 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports (3) Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:22:18 148.295 Report
1998 February 15 4th 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 2:53:42 172.712 Report
1999 February 14 Pole 24 Jeff Gordon (2) Hendrick Motorsports (4) Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:05:42 161.551 Report
2000 February 20 Pole 88 Dale Jarrett (3) Robert Yates Racing (3) Ford 200 500 (805) 3:12:43 155.669 Report
2001 February 18 19th 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:05:26 161.783 Report
2002 February 17 19th 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge 200 500 (805) 3:29:50 130.81 Report
2003 February 16 4th 15 Michael Waltrip (2) Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (2) Chevrolet 109* 272.5 (439) 2:02:08 133.87 Report
2004 February 15 3rd 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (3) Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:11:53 156.341 Report
2005 February 20 15th 24 Jeff Gordon (3) Hendrick Motorsports (5) Chevrolet 203* 507.5 (817) 3:45:16 135.173 Report
2006 February 19 9th 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports (6) Chevrolet 203* 507.5 (817) 3:33:26 142.667 Report
2007 February 18 34th 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing (2) Chevrolet 202* 505 (813) 3:22:55 149.333 Report
2008 February 17 7th 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing Dodge 200 500 (805) 3:16:30 152.672 Report
2009 February 15 39th1 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 152* 380 (612) 2:51:40 132.816 Report
2010 February 14 13th 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 208* 520 (837) 3:47:16 137.284 Report
2011 February 20 32nd 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing (5) Ford 208* 520 (837) 3:59:24 130.326 Report
2012 February 27–28* 4th 17 Matt Kenseth (2) Roush Fenway Racing (2) Ford 202* 505 (813) 3:36:02 140.256 Report
2013 February 24 9th 48 Jimmie Johnson (2) Hendrick Motorsports (7) Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:08:23 159.25 Report
2014 February 23 9th 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2) Hendrick Motorsports (8) Chevrolet 200 500 (805) 3:26:29 145.29 Report
2015 February 22 5th 22 Joey Logano Team Penske (2) Ford 203* 507.5 (817) 3:08:02 161.939 Report
2016 February 21 11th 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing (2) Toyota 200 500 (805) 3:10:25 157.549 Report

 Andretti was born in a part of Italy that is now in Croatia, but became a naturalized American citizen. He remains the only foreigner to win the race.
 – Record for fastest Daytona 500 at 177.602 mph (285.823 km/h) set by Buddy Baker in 1980.
1 – Originally started 39th, but had to go back to the 43rd position due to changing to a backup car after crashing in the qualifying races. A driver who crashes during the qualifying race and goes to a backup car, or after 2003, changes an engine between the first practice after the qualifying race and the Daytona 500, is relegated to the rear of the field.

The following races have been shortened:

The following races have been lengthened because of the green–white–checker finish. Note that from 2004 through 2009, only one attempt was permitted in Sprint Cup Series racing. Starting in 2010, a maximum of three attempts are permitted.

Only one race has been rescheduled from its original date.

Multiple winners (drivers)

# Wins Driver Years Won
7 Richard Petty 1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981
4 Cale Yarborough 1968, 1977, 1983, 1984
3 Bobby Allison 1978, 1982, 1988
Dale Jarrett 1993, 1996, 2000
Jeff Gordon 1997, 1999, 2005
2 Bill Elliott 1985, 1987
Sterling Marlin 1994, 1995
Michael Waltrip 2001, 2003
Matt Kenseth 2009, 2012
Jimmie Johnson 2006, 2013
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2004, 2014

Multiple winners (teams)

# Wins Team Years Won
9 Petty Enterprises 1959, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981
8 Hendrick Motorsports 1986, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2014
5 Wood Brothers Racing 1963, 1968, 1972, 1976, 2011
3 Ranier-Lundy 1980, 1983, 1984
Morgan-McClure Motorsports 1991, 1994, 1995
Robert Yates Racing 1992, 1996, 2000
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 2001, 2003, 2004
2 Holman-Moody 1965, 1967
Junior Johnson & Associates 1969, 1977
Melling Racing 1985, 1987
Richard Childress Racing 1998, 2007
Roush Fenway Racing 2009, 2012
Team Penske 2008, 2015
Joe Gibbs Racing 1993, 2016

Manufacturer wins

# Wins Manufacturer Years Won
23 Chevrolet 1960, 1975, 1977, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2014
14 Ford 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1978, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015
4 Plymouth 1964, 1966, 1970, 1971
Dodge 1973, 1974, 2002, 2008
3 Mercury 1968, 1972, 1976
Oldsmobile 1959, 1979, 1980
Pontiac 1961, 1962, 1983
Buick 1981, 1982, 1988
1 Toyota 2016

Race winner records

Prerace ceremonies before the 2008 Daytona 500.

Consecutive victories

Winners from the pole position

Family winners

Winners as both driver and owner

Won the Daytona 500 and Sprint Unlimited in same year

Won the Daytona 500 and Can-Am Duel in same year

Won the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 the same year

Won the Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 the same year

Won the Daytona 500 and the Sprint Cup Championship the same year

Drivers whose first NASCAR Cup Series win was the Daytona 500

Youngest and oldest winners of the Daytona 500

References

  1. Chad Culver (2014). Dover International Speedway: The Monster Mile. 53: Arcadia Publishing. p. 127. ISBN 1467121371.
  2. "Culture, Class, Distinction"Bennett, Tony. Culture, Class, Distinction. Routledge (2009) Disaggregating cultural capital. English translation ISBN 0-415-42242-6 (hardcover).
  3. "World’s most watched TV sports events: 2006 Rank & Trends report". Initiative. 2007-01-19. Archived from the original on 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
  4. "A History of the Daytona 500". TicketCity. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  5. Crossman, Matt (February 22, 2015). "Daytona 500 Magic Hour: Best 60 minutes in sports". NASCAR. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  6. Briggs, Josh. "How Daytona Qualifying Works". HowStuffWorks. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Blount, Terry (2012-02-28). "Bizarre moments dominate Daytona 500 weekend". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  8. 1959, 1960, and 1961 Daytona 500 Programs
  9. "The Rise And Fall Of NASCAR At Indy". Jul 24, 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  10. Bob Zeller, Daytona 500: An Official History (Phoenix: David Bull Publishing, 2002): 48-52.
  11. Mark Aumann (January 23, 2003). "1979: Petty winds up in 'fist' place". Turner Sports Interactive. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  12. "1979 Daytona 500". Amazon.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  13. "NASCAR.com — The 1990 Daytona 500 - July 28, 2003". 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  14. "Jayski's Silly Season Site — Race Info Page". 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  15. "2003 Daytona 500 - Racing-Reference.info". 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  16. Cain, Holly (21 February 2016). "DENNY HAMLIN WINS THRILLING DAYTONA 500". nascar.com. nascar.com. Retrieved 23 February 2016.

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