The crosses two-thirds of a century this 12 months.
has performed host to 66 of this stuff, constructing an unmatched rolodex of . From Lee Petty’s win in 1959 to William Byron’s triumph final 12 months, the not often comes and goes .
Typically, it offers one thing followers have by no means seen earlier than.
So let’s have a look at some.
Earlier than the 2025 , the 67th working, right here is one reality about every of the primary 66 iterations.
Lee Petty wins first Daytona 500 — three days later
1959: The primary Daytona 500 supplied an instantaneous traditional. Lee Petty and Johnny Beauchamp battled to a photograph end. Beauchamp was initially declared the winner, however after three days of examine, Petty obtained the nod.
1960: The second Daytona 500 stays the slowest of all time. The common velocity: 124.74 miles per hour. It additionally featured the most important discipline — 68 vehicles.
1961: Fireball Roberts led 170 of the 200 laps however blew an engine with 13 to go. Teammate Marvin Panch capitalized with the victory.
1962: Fireball Roberts, driving a Pontiac in-built Smokey Yunick’s “Finest Rattling Storage in City,” grew to become the primary driver to win the pole, his qualifying race and the Daytona 500 in a single week.
1963: Winner Tiny Lund did one thing that might by no means occur right this moment. He ran all 200 laps on one set of tires.
1964: Richard Petty cruised to his first Daytona 500 victory by main 184 laps, a report that also stands.
1965: For the primary time, the race didn’t span 500 miles as a consequence of rain. That 12 months, it was the Daytona 332½.
1966: The King etched his identify as the primary multi-time winner.
Mario Andretti turns into solely Daytona 500 winner born exterior U.S.
1967: Mario Andretti takes the checkered flag. To at the present time, he’s the one driver born exterior of america to win.
1968: Rain eradicated the Thursday qualifying races, marking the one time the lineup was set solely by qualifying occasions.
1969: LeeRoy Yarbrough sped previous Charlie Glotzbach, finishing the primary last-lap go for the win in occasion historical past.
1970: Pete Hamilton’s Plymouth Superbird made its debut, together with the Ford Torino. They ushered in a brand new period of vehicles made to race on superspeedways.
1971: The race noticed 48 lead modifications — double the earlier 12 months.
1972: A.J. Foyt graced the quilt of Sports activities Illustrated after successful the race. He was the primary Daytona 500 champ to take action.
1973: Nation music singer Marty Robbins made 35 NASCAR begins between 1966 and 1982. This was his first of two Daytona 500s. He crashed and positioned thirty fourth.
1974: Of us name this race the Daytona 450. NASCAR lopped off 50 laps because of the power disaster, although it nonetheless included a then-record 60 lead modifications.
1975: One other report — solely 14 vehicles completed the race.
1976: Richard Petty and David Pearson wrecked on the final lap. Pearson limped throughout the road to win.
1977: Janet Guthrie grew to become the primary feminine driver to start out a Cup Sequence race in NASCAR’s fashionable period (since 1972).
1978: Bobby Allison triumphed from the thirty third beginning place, the bottom of any 500 winner till Kevin Harvick gained from thirty fourth in 2007.
Bobby, Donnie and Cale throw arms in well-known combat
1979: The primary flag-to-flag community telecast of a Cup Sequence race ended with an infield brawl between Bobby and Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough. Donnie and Yarborough crashed out in Flip 3 whereas battling for the lead on the final lap. Bobby completed the race after which drove over to verify on his youthful brother. A combat ensued.
1980: Winner Buddy Baker’s common velocity of 177.602 miles per hour stays the quickest of all time.
1981: Richard Petty gained the race for the seventh and remaining time, thus claiming the biggest financial sum of his profession ($90,575).
1982: The Daytona 500 grew to become the official season-opening NASCAR race, a spot on the schedule it nonetheless holds.
1983: Cale Yarborough ruined his automobile throughout qualifying. No downside. He went to an area Hardee’s restaurant, discovered a Pontiac Le Mans present automobile and raced it to Victory Lane.
1984: Cale Yarborough grew to become the primary driver to formally crack 200 miles per hour in qualifying. He really did it the earlier 12 months, however on his second lap, his automobile flipped coming off Flip 4, disqualifying his pole run and erasing it from the report books.
1985: Fan favourite Invoice Elliott secured his first Daytona 500 victory.
1986: Dale Earnhardt’s Daytona 500 heartbreaks continued. He was compelled to pit for gasoline whereas wrestling eventual winner Geoff Bodine for the lead with three laps to go. Upon exiting, his motor exploded.
1987: One 12 months after successful with lower than one gallon of gasoline left, Geoff Bodine ran out with three laps to go, surrendering the result in Invoice Elliott.
1988: Bobby Allison completed first and Davey Allison adopted in second, making them the primary father-son duo to rank first and second within the 500.
1989: Darrell Waltrip piloted the No. 17 automobile to Victory Lane in his seventeenth Daytona 500 look.
1990: Derrike Cope scored his first Cup Sequence win. In 72 prior races, he had by no means completed within the prime 5.
1991: Dale Earnhardt hit a seagull — sure, a chook — on Lap 2, which brought about overheating points and led to an early pit cease.
Richard Petty’s remaining Daytona 500 begin ends early
1992: A large Lap 92 crash collected Richard Petty, who was making his remaining Daytona 500 begin.
1993: Dale Jarrett handed Dale Earnhardt popping out of Flip 2 on the final lap for the win.
1994: Sterling Marlin captured his first Cup Sequence victory in his 279th begin, which was the longest winless streak to start a NASCAR profession on the time.
1995: Richard Petty joined the printed crew for the primary and solely time.
1996: Keep in mind how, 15 years earlier, Richard Petty earned $90,575 for his remaining Daytona 500 win? Properly, Dale Jarrett pocketed $360,775 for his 1996 victory. Oh, how occasions change.
1997: Jeff Gordon wins his first Daytona 500 at a then-record 25 years previous.
1998: Lastly, lastly, lastly. Dale Earnhardt broke by means of, greedy his first Daytona 500 victory in one of the memorable moments in NASCAR historical past.
1999: Tony Stewart made his first profession Cup Sequence begin.
2000: Keep in mind how, simply 4 years earlier, Dale Jarrett obtained $360,775 for his win? Properly, do that on for dimension. Jarrett gained once more in 2000 and introduced house $2.27 million, the second-biggest NASCAR purse ever on the time, bolstered by a $1 million bonus as a part of the Winston No Bull 5 collection. He’s additionally the final Daytona 500 driver to win from the pole.
2001: Tragedy struck as Dale Earnhardt was killed in a last-lap crash. Operating third behind eventual winner Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr., Senior was concerned in a wreck with Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader. He collided with the surface wall and died immediately. His dying stays the one one within the historical past of the race. It led to an intense give attention to security enhancements.
2002: Dave Marcis made his remaining Daytona 500 look. His 33 profession begins sit atop the race’s all-time leaderboard.
Daytona 500 — or much less?
2003: This was the shortest Daytona 500 of all time. Rain reduce it to 272½ miles.
2004: Throughout the first Daytona 500 broadcast in excessive definition, Dale Earnhardt Jr. gained six years to the day of his father’s 500 victory.
2005: For the primary time, the race featured time beyond regulation after the adoption of the green-white-checker end rule. The drivers endured three further laps.
2006: Believed to be the most-watched Daytona 500 in historical past, the occasion drew a Nielsen score of 11.3 and roughly 20 million viewers.
2007: Kevin Harvick notched his lone Daytona 500 victory by 0.02 seconds over Mark Martin.
2008: Within the fiftieth working of the Nice American Race, Ryan Newman solidified the primary Daytona 500 victory for crew proprietor Roger Penske.
2009: For the primary time ever, the race went off with no Petty within the discipline. The skies cried consequently. Rain slashed this one to 380 miles. No 500 has been shortened since then. Knock on wooden.
2010: Formally, this race stretched to 3 hours and 47 minutes. However that doesn’t think about two purple flags and about three hours of delays to repair a pothole between Turns 1 and a pair of.
2011 produces certainly one of wildest Daytona 500s ever
2011: This version of the Nice American Race set information for cautions (16), warning laps (60) and lead modifications (74) that also stand right this moment. Trevor Bayne additionally sprinted into Victory Lane sooner or later after his twentieth birthday, turning into the youngest victor in historical past.
2012: Below warning on Lap 160, Juan Pablo Montoya broke a rear trailing arm and slammed right into a jet dryer. That triggered an explosion and brought about a two-hour purple flag as officers extinguished the flames and repaired the observe.
2013: Danica Patrick grew to become the primary girl to start out a Daytona 500 on the pole and lead a lap.
2014: Dale Jr.’s second win included the longest single-day rain delay in occasion historical past at six hours and 22 minutes.
2015: Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart made their remaining Daytona 500 begins.
2016: Denny Hamlin prevailed over Martin Truex within the closest Daytona 500 ever. The margin: one-hundredth of a second.
2017: Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson all ran out of gasoline whereas main in the course of the remaining 4 laps. Kurt Busch benefitted together with his first superspeedway victory.
2018: For the primary time in 36 years, the race didn’t characteristic a automobile with a main sponsorship from a beer firm, as Austin Dillon put the No. 3 Chevrolet in Victory Lane.
2019: This was the primary Daytona 500 to not embrace an Earnhardt since 1978.
Daytona 500 in 2020s
2020: President Donald Trump served because the grand marshal.
2021: Attendance was restricted, and followers have been required to put on masks and follow social distancing as a consequence of COVID-19.
2022: Austin Cindric took the checkered flag in his eighth Cup Sequence begin and first as a full-timer.
2023: The longest Daytona 500 of all time by way of laps and miles — 212 and 530.
2024: William Byron gained for Hendrick Motorsports on the fortieth anniversary of Geoff Bodine making the group’s first begin.
