Daytona 500 Venue Daytona International Speedway Corporate sponsor None First race 1959 Distance 500 miles (805 km) Number of laps 200 Previous names Daytona 500 by STP (1991-1993) The Daytona 500 is a 200-lap, 500 mile (805 km) NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. In stock car racing, it is the most important race of the year. Not only is Daytona NASCAR's biggest race, it is also the circuit's first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports. 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 Indy 500. The event is also known as "The Super Bowl of NASCAR" and "The Great American Race." The race is the direct successor of a race that was held on Daytona Beach itself; however, the Daytona 500 proper has been held at the Daytona International Speedway since its inaugural run. Lee Petty, founder 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 incident. Petty and Beauchamp were lapping the lapped car of Joe Weatherly at the finish, when officials initially called Beauchamp the winner as the cars crossed the line. After reviewing photographs and video of the finish, on February 25, 1959, after three days of review, the call was reversed, and Petty won the first Daytona 500. Richard Petty won the race a record seven times. It holds the record for the most cars crashed at once, 38, on February 13, 1960, on the second lap in a 73-car Sportsman 250-mile race. (An April 2003 race at Talladega Superspeedway had a 27-car crash which, percentagewise, was the most cars crashed at once, and the modern era record.) Qualifying is unique at Daytona for the 500, as teams actually must race their way into the Daytona 500 field, instead of taking qualifying laps. The first row is set by one round of qualifying, normally one week before the race. The remainder of the field is set by qualifying races (125 miles until 2004; 150 miles beginning in 2005). It was the first 500-mile auto race to be televised in its entirety, when CBS did it in 1979, and continued until 2000. Since 2001, the race has alternated between FOX and NBC under the terms of the current $2.48 billion NASCAR television contract. FOX Sports will broadcast the race on its own starting in 2007. List of Daytona 500 winners Year Driver Car # Car Make Start Laps Led Purse Speed (in mph) 1959 Lee Petty 42 Oldsmobile 15th 38 $19,050 135.521 1960 Junior Johnson 27 Chevrolet 9th 67 $19,600 124.740 1961 Marvin Panch 20 Pontiac 4th 13 $21,050 149.601 1962 Fireball Roberts 22 Pontiac 1st 144 $24,190 152.529 1963 Tiny Lund 21 Ford 12th 127 $24,550 151.566 1964 Richard Petty 43 Plymouth 2nd 184 $33,300 154.334 1965 Fred Lorenzen 28 Ford 4th 25 $27,100 141.539* 1966 Richard Petty 43 Plymouth 1st 108 $28,150 160.927* 1967 Mario Andretti 11 Ford 12th 112 $48,900 146.926 1968 Cale Yarborough 21 Mercury 1st 76 $47,250 143.251 1969 LeeRoy Yarbrough 98 Ford 19th 18 $38,950 157.950 1970 Pete Hamilton 40 Plymouth 9th 13 $44,850 149.601 1971 Richard Petty 43 Plymouth 5th 70 $45,450 144.462 1972 A.J. Foyt 21 Mercury 2nd 167 $44,600 161.550 1973 Richard Petty 43 Dodge 7th 17 $36,100 157.205 1974 Richard Petty 43 Dodge 2nd 73 $39,650 140.894* 1975 Benny Parsons 72 Chevrolet 32nd 4 $43,905 153.649 1976 David Pearson 21 Mercury 7th 37 $46,800 152.181 1977 Cale Yarborough 11 Chevrolet 4th 137 $63,700 153.218 1978 Bobby Allison 15 Ford 33rd 28 $56,300 159.730 1979 Richard Petty 43 Oldsmobile 13th 12 $73,900 143.977 1980 Buddy Baker 28 Oldsmobile 1st 143 $102,175 177.602 1981 Richard Petty 43 Buick 8th 26 $90,575 169.651 1982 Bobby Allison 88 Buick 7th 147 $120,360 153.991 1983 Cale Yarborough 28 Pontiac 8th 23 $119,600 155.979 1984 Cale Yarborough 28 Chevrolet 1st 89 $160,300 150.994 1985 Bill Elliott 9 Ford 1st 136 $185,500 172.265 1986 Geoff Bodine 5 Chevrolet 2nd 101 $192,715 148.124 1987 Bill Elliott 9 Ford 1st 104 $204,150 176.263 1988 Bobby Allison 12 Buick 3rd 70 $202,940 137.531 1989 Darrell Waltrip 17 Chevrolet 2nd 25 $184,900 148.466 1990 Derrike Cope 10 Chevrolet 12th 5 $188,150 165.761 1991 Ernie Irvan 4 Chevrolet 2nd 29 $233,000 148.148 1992 Davey Allison 28 Ford 6th 127 $244,050 160.256 1993 Dale Jarrett 18 Chevrolet 2nd 8 $238,200 154.972 1994 Sterling Marlin 4 Chevrolet 4th 30 $258,275 156.931 1995 Sterling Marlin 4 Chevrolet 3rd 105 $300,460 141.710 1996 Dale Jarrett 88 Ford 7th 40 $360,775 154.308 1997 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 6th 40 $377,410 148.295 1998 Dale Earnhardt 3 Chevrolet 4th 105 $1,059,805 172.712 1999 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 1st 15 $1,172,246 161.551 2000 Dale Jarrett 88 Ford 1st 87 $1,277,975 155.669 2001 Michael Waltrip 15 Chevrolet 19th 23 $1,331,185 161.783 2002 Ward Burton 22 Dodge 19th 5 $1,409,017 130.810 2003 Michael Waltrip 15 Chevrolet 4th 68 $1,419,406 133.870* 2004 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 8 Chevrolet 3rd 59 $1,495,070 156.341 2005 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 15th 28 $1,497,150 135.173* All of the above races were 500 miles long, except those listed below: 1965: 322.5 Miles (129 laps) because of rain 1966: 495 Miles (198 laps) because of rain 1974: 450 Miles (180 laps) because of energy crisis 2003: 272.5 Miles (109 laps) because of rain 2005: 507.5 Miles (203 laps) because of green-white-checker rule change. A July 2004 NASCAR rule change states if at any time during the penultimate lap the race is under caution, the race will end with a two green flag laps or the next caution upon the ensuing restart. See also List of current NASCAR races Video clip from 1964 Scenes of pre-race time trials which include several crashes and spin outs. From the State Library & Archives of Florida. Previous race: Gatorade Duel Current NASCAR Races Next race: Auto Club 500 fr:Daytona 500 Search Term: "Daytona_500" Categories: NASCAR Nextel Cup races | Florida sports | CBS Sports | NBC Sports | FOX Sports