Daytona 500 Tidbits, History and Notes

Daytona 500 Tidbits

The 2013 edition will be the 55th running of the Daytona 500.
Although the first Daytona 500 was held in 1959, it has been the season-opener only since 1982.
521 drivers have competed in at least one Daytona 500; 309 in more than one.
35 drivers have won a Daytona 500.
Youngest Daytona 500 winner: Trevor Bayne (02/20/2011 - 20 years, 0 months, 1 days)
Oldest Daytona 500 winner: Bobby Allison (02/14/1988 - 50 years, 2 months, 11 days)
Nine drivers have won more than one Daytona 500, led by Richard Petty with seven victories.

The nine drivers who have won the Daytona 500 more than once: Richard Petty (seven), Cale Yarborough (four), Bobby Allison (three), Dale Jarrett (three), Jeff Gordon (three), Bill Elliott (two), Matt Kenseth (two), Sterling Marlin (two) and Michael Waltrip (two).

Dale Earnhardt leads the series in runner-up finishes in the Daytona 500 with five; Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Terry Labonte lead all active drivers in Daytona 500 second-place finishes with three.

Dale Earnhardt finished in the top 10 in 16 of his 23 Daytona 500s.

Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty each had 16 top 10s in the Daytona 500, more than any other driver. Terry Labonte leads all active drivers in Daytona 500 top-10 finishes with 12; followed by Mark Martin with 11.

Dale Earnhardt had 12 top fives in the Daytona 500, more than any other driver. Terry Labonte leads all active drivers in Daytona 500 top-five finishes with six; followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. with five.

Only 12 drivers have an average finish of 10th or better in the Daytona 500, five of those competed in the Daytona 500 only once.

Clint Bowyer has a 12.0 average finish in eight appearances, the best of the active drivers who have competed in more than one Daytona 500.

Lee Petty, who won the inaugural Daytona 500, and Trevor Bayne, 2011 Daytona 500 champion, are the only two drivers to win the Daytona 500 in their first appearance.

28 of the 35 drivers who have won, participated in at least two Daytona 500s before visiting Victory Lane.

Dale Earnhardt competed 19 times before winning his only Daytona 500 (1998), the longest span of any of the 35 race winners.

Six drivers made 10 or more attempts before their first Daytona 500 victory: Dale Earnhardt (19), Buddy Baker (18), Darrell Waltrip (16), Bobby Allison (14), Michael Waltrip (14) and Sterling Marlin (12).

The most Daytona 500s all-time without a victory was Dave Marcis (33 races).

Seven drivers posted their career-first victory with a win in the Daytona 500: Tiny Lund (1963), Mario Andretti (1967), Pete Hamilton (1970), Derrike Cope (1990), Sterling Marlin (1994), Michael Waltrip (2001) and Trevor Bayne (2011).

Three other drivers posted their career-first victory in (point-paying) qualifying races: Johnny Rutherford (1963), Bobby Isaac (1964) and Earl Balmer(1966).

A driver has won back-to-back Daytona 500s three times. Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95).

Kevin Harvick’s 0.020-second margin of victory over Mark Martin in the 2007 Daytona 500 is the 12th-closest overall since the advent of electronic timing in 1993, and the closest in a Daytona 500.

27 of the 54 Daytona 500s have been won from a top-five starting position.
Matt Kenseth won the Daytona 500 from the 39th starting position in 2009, the deepest a race winner has started.

Nine have been won from the pole. The last to do so was Dale Jarrett in 2000.
16 Daytona 500s have been won from the front row.

Five reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions have gone on to win the Daytona 500 the following season: Lee Petty (1959), Richard Petty (1973),Cale Yarborough (1977), Jeff Gordon (1999) and Dale Jarrett (2000).

Five drivers have won the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in the same season, Richard Petty has done it four times:Jimmie Johnson (2006), Jeff Gordon (1997), Richard Petty (1964, 1971, 1974, 1979), Cale Yarborough (1977) and Lee Petty (1959).

Danica Patrick on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2013 became the first female in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history to win a Coors Light pole for the Daytona 500 posting a speed of 196.434 mph.
Janet Guthrie previously held the record for top starting position by a female NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, twice starting ninth in 1977. She started ninth at Talladega Superspeedway on Aug. 7, 1977 and at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 28, 1977.

In 2012, Danica Patrick became the third female driver to compete in a Daytona 500 joining Janet Guthrie and Shawna Robinson.

History

Groundbreaking for Daytona International Speedway was Nov. 25, 1957. The soil underneath the banked corners was dug from the infield of the track and the hole filled with water. It is now known as Lake Lloyd.

The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona was a 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, 1959.

Richard Petty won his 200th career race on July 4, 1984 at Daytona.

Lights were installed in the spring of 1998. However, the July race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires. The second Daytona race has been held under the lights ever since.

The track underwent a repave in 2010.

Notebook

There have been 131 NASCAR Sprint Cup races since the track hosted its first race in 1959: 54 have been 500 miles, 50 were 400 miles and four 250 miles. There were also 23 qualifier races that were point races.

Fireball Roberts won the inaugural pole at Daytona.

Bob Welborn won the first race at Daytona, the 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500.

Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959; he led 38 laps and won by 2 feet.

Fireball Roberts won the first 400-mile race at Daytona, the 1963 Firecracker 400.
55 drivers have posted poles at Daytona.

Cale Yarborough leads all drivers with 12 poles at Daytona.

Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin lead all active drivers with three poles at Daytona.
56 drivers have won at Daytona.

Richard Petty leads all drivers in victories at Daytona with 10.

Jeff Gordon has six victories at Daytona, more than any other active driver.

The Wood Brothers have won 15 races at Daytona, more than any other car owner.

17 full-length races at Daytona have been won from the pole; the last to do it was Kevin Harvick in the 2011 Coke Zero 400.

A driver has swept both races at Daytona only four times, most recently by Bobby Allison in 1982.

- NASCAR Statistics