Daytona History

The race is the direct successor of shorter races that were held on Daytona Beach itself; however, the Daytona 500 has been held at the Daytona International Speedway since its inaugural run in 1959.

1959-1969

Lee Petty, patriarch of a famous racing family whose most renowned member was his son Richard, won the first Daytona 500 on February 22, 1959 defeating Johnny Beauchamp in a highly unusual manner. Petty and Beauchamp were lapping the car of Joe Weatherly at the finish, when officials initially called Beauchamp the winner as the three cars crossed the line. After reviewing photographs and film of the finish for three days, the call was reversed, and Petty won the first Daytona 500.

In the 1960 Daytona 500 the biggest multicar accident in Nascar history occurred when 49 cars were involved in an early race incident. (video) 37 cars were took out of the race. Despite virtually no safety standards (compared to today) nobody was fataly injured. (There has only been one fatality in the race itself.) The 37-car crash involved 75.5% of the field; a crash of similar proportions would be a 33-car crash in today's 43-car field. There has been a 27-car crash at Talladega Superspeedway in recent years.

The first rain-shortened Daytona 500 was the 1965 event. Leader Marvin Panch and Fred Lorenzen made contact on Lap 129, as rain began to fall; Panch spun out, and Lorenzen won when the race was finally called on Lap 133. The 1966 Daytona 500, won by Richard Petty, was also shortened to 198 laps due to rain.

1970-1979

During the start of the 1974 NASCAR season, many races had their distance cut ten percent in response to the energy crisis of the year. As a result, the 1974 Daytona 500, won by Richard Petty, was shortened to 180 laps (450 miles), as symbolically, the race "started" on Lap 21. The Twin 125 qualifying races were also shortened to 45 laps (112.5 miles).

In the 1976 Daytona 500, Richard Petty was leading on the last lap when he was passed on the backstretch by David Pearson. Petty tried to turn under Pearson coming off the final corner, but didn't clear Pearson. The contact caused the drivers to spin in to the grass in the infield just short of the finish line. Petty's car didn't start, but Pearson was able to drive his wrecked car just enough to limp over the finish line for the win.

The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first 500-mile race to be broadcast live on national television. (The Indianapolis 500 was only broadcast on a tape delay that evening during the time; most races were broadcast only through the final quarter to half of the race, as was the procedure for ABC's Championship Auto Racing broadcasts; with the new CBS contract, the network and NASCAR agreed to a full live broadcast.) A final lap crash and subsequent fight between leaders Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison (along with Donnie's brother Bobby Allison) brought enough publicity to put NASCAR on the national radar. Donnie Allison was leading the race on the final lap with Yarborough drafting him tightly. As Yarborough attempted a slingshot pass at the end of the backstretch, Allison attempted to block him. Yarborough refused to give ground and as he pulled alongside Allison, his left side tires left the pavement and went into the wet and muddy infield grass. Yarborough lost control of his car and contacted Allison's car halfway down the backstretch. As both drivers tried to regain control, their cars made contact several more times before finally locking together and crashing into the outside wall in turn three. After the cars settled in the grass, Allison and Yarborough began to argue. After they had talked it out, Bobby Allison, who was lapped at that point, pulled over and began defending his brother, and a fight broke out. Richard Petty, who was over half a lap behind at the time of the crash, went on to win the race.

1980-1989

Buddy Baker started the decade out by winning the fastest Daytona 500 in history, at 177.602 mph.

The 1981 Daytona 500 saw Richard Petty took an amazing risk to win his 7th Daytona 500. With 24 laps to go, Petty came to the pits for his last schedule pit stop, but instead of changing tires, the Petty team only added fuel to Petty's car. It worked well as Petty became the only driver to win the Daytona 500 in three different decades.

In 1983, Cale Yarborough was the first driver to run a qualifying lap over 200 mph for the Daytona 500. However, on his second of two qualifying laps, Yarborough crashed and flipped his car in turn four. The car had to be withdrawn, and the lap did not count. Despite the crash, Yarborough drove a back-up car to victory. A year later in 1984, Yarborough completed a lap of 201.848 mph, officially breaking the 200 mph barrier at Daytona. He won the race for the second year in a row, and fourth time in his career.

In 1987, Bill Elliott qualified for the pole position at an all-time record of 210.364 mph. He had already won convincingly in the 1985 race, and won his second Daytona 500 in 1987 in dominating fashion.

The 1988 Daytona 500 was the first race requiring the use of new restrictor plates. Before the race, there was much uncertainty about how well the restrictor plates would work. They were mandated because it was felt the speeds were getting too high at the superspeedways, as demonstrated at Bobby Allison's crash at Talladega in 1987. In the 1988 Daytona 500, Bobby Allison beat his son Davey Allison to the finish line for the win; father and son celebrated together in Victory Lane. Bobby Allison thus became the oldest driver to win the Daytona 500. The race is also remembered for Richard Petty's wild accident on lap 106. Petty spun, got airborne and tumbled along a large section of catch fence before his car came to a stop. The car was then torn nearly in half from hits by A. J. Foyt and Brett Bodine. Petty escaped without serious injury.

The 1989 Daytona 500 was won by Darrell Waltrip, his first Daytona 500 victory after 17 attempts. (Coincidentally, the car he drove to victory wore the number 17.) Fans loudly cheered the child-like exuberance of Waltrip's victory celebration. As he was being interviewed by CBS pit reporter Mike Joy, Waltrip shouted, "I won the Daytona 500! I won the Daytona 500!" Shortly after, an exuberant Waltrip performed an "Ickey Shuffle" dance in Victory Lane.

1990-1999

After years of trying to win the Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt appeared headed for certain victory in the 1990 event until a series of events in the closing laps. On lap 193 Geoff Bodine spun in the first turn, causing the third and final caution of the race. Everyone pitted except Derrike Cope, who stayed out on the track. On the lap 195 restart, Earnhardt retook and held the lead. On the final lap, Earnhardt punctured a tire when he drove over a piece of metal bell housing that had fallen from the failed engine of Rick Wilson's car. As Earnhardt's damaged car slowed, Cope drove past and earned his first Winston Cup (now NEXTEL Cup) victory. It was the first of two victories for the relatively unknown Cope in the 1990 season.

In 1992, Davey Allison dominated en route to his only Daytona 500 victory. He avoided the "Big One" on lap 92 and went on to lead the final 102 laps.

In 1993, Jeff Gordon made his first 500 start. He made quite a splash, finishing in the top five. On lap 170, trying to avoid the spinning cars of Michael Waltrip and Derrick Cope, Rusty Wallace in the number 2, Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac, lost control and cartwheeled several times down the backstretch grass. With two laps to go and Dale Earnhardt leading, Dale Jarret in the number 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet was running third going into turn three. Using a push from fourth place Geoff Bodine, Jarret went to the low side of Jeff Gordon for second and pulled even with the leader Earnhardt. They bumped and that sent the five time Winston Cup Champion sliding up the track and Jarret made the pass. With his father and former Cup Champion Ned Jarret in the broadcast booth, he became his son's biggest fan on national TV. It at the time was the fourth time Earnhardt had been leading the 500 with less than 10 laps to go. All four times he failed to win.

In 1998, Dale Earnhardt finally won the Daytona 500 after 20 years of trying. Though Earnhardt had usually been a strong competitor in the Daytona 500, mechanical problems, crashes or bad luck had prevented him from winning the race. In 1998, however, Earnhardt was leading when Lake Speed and John Andretti made contact on Lap 198, causing the race to end under caution. After his victory, a joyous Earnhardt drove slowly down pit road, where members of other race teams had lined up to give him handshakes and high-fives. The victory was widely celebrated, even by people who weren't his fans, and was a defining moment in Earnhardt's career and legacy.

2000-present

On the last turn of the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash. This was the second restrictor-plate race run under a rules package (discontinued after the 2001 season) that included a small strip atop the car's roof and a small lip on the rear spoiler. Though it was meant to give power back to the drivers and help produce more lead changes, critics charged that it created dangerous racing conditions. An 18-car crash on lap 173, which sent Tony Stewart's car flying end-over-end, caused the race to be red-flagged (stopped) while the track was made safe. Michael Waltrip, making his first start for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., won the race, with his teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finishing second, in cars that were both owned by Dale Earnhardt, who had been running third prior to his fatal crash in Turn 4.

The 2001 Daytona 500 was also the first NASCAR Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) points race to be televised by the Fox Network, which covered the other major Cup events during Speedweeks, as well as the previous day's Busch Series race. Fox's commentators and reporters included Darrell Waltrip, Michael's brother, and Larry McReynolds, who had been Dale Earnhardt's crew chief at the 1998 Daytona 500.

Sterling Marlin was battling Jeff Gordon for the lead of the 2002 Daytona 500 when they made contact. Gordon spun while a multi-car crash broke out behind them. NASCAR red-flagged the race so it could be raced to completion, and stopped the field on the backstretch. Marlin had been told that the right front fender on his car had been knocked into the right front tire, and jumped out of the car to pull the fender away from the tire. NASCAR officials in the safety vehicle immediately jumped out and stopped him. Since no one is allowed to work on a car during red-flag conditions, Marlin was sent to the back of the field. Marlin's move led to Ward Burton's win.

In 2003, Michael Waltrip won when rain shortened the race to 109 laps,[8] and in 2004, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the race three years after his father's death and exactly six years to the date that his father won the Daytona 500.

Changes to the Daytona 500 meant the race could run into the dusk, with engines starting at 2:40 PM, and the green flag waving around 2:55 PM, meaning the race would finish under the lights as darkness fell at the finish. In 2005, Jeff Gordon won his third Daytona 500 in the first instance NASCAR used the green-white-checker finish rule in the 500. Jimmie Johnson took the honors in 2006, also under a nighttime green-white-checker finish.

Also in 2005, qualifying race distance was raised 20%, with the qualifying races now 60 laps (150 miles) and only the top two drivers making the field through the race under new NASCAR rules on exemptions.

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