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Credit: Autostock
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
February 14, 2003
10:56 AM EST (1556 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Since the 1959 inaugural, the 44 editions of the Daytona 500 have created a countless log of statistical nuggets interspersed with facts and notes about the sport's best drivers.
The 2001 and 2002 Daytona 500s were both won from the 19th starting position, the lowest starting positions of a Daytona 500 winner since Bobby Allison (33rd, 1978) -- the lowest starting position of a 500 winner.
In the 24 Daytona 500s since then, the winner has started eighth or better in all but four races. Ten of those 24 races were won from the front row (42 percent). By the way, rookie Jamie McMurray is scheduled to start 19th Sunday.
Dale Earnhardt's only Daytona 500 victory (1998) came in his 20th try. No other 500 winner had as many unsuccessful attempts before winning the "Great American Race." Ricky Rudd (25), Terry Labonte (24), Kyle Petty (21) and Rusty Wallace (20) have all tried to win the Daytona 500 20 or more times. Dave Marcis, at 33 attempts, holds the record for the most unsuccessful tries to win the 500.
Twenty-eight drivers have won the Daytona 500. Ironically, the No. 28 will not appear in this year's race, as it has been placed on "do not assign" status by NASCAR after team owner Robert Yates switched his former No. 28 program to No. 38 for this season, with driver Elliott Sadler.
Rusty Wallace is one of seven drivers that have competed in all 60 restrictor plate races. A restrictor plate victory continues to elude him. Although he did not win at all in 2002, Wallace had his season-best finish of second place in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona (equaled three other times).
That was his sixth top five and eighth top 10 in the last 10 Daytona races, both of which are the most of any driver in the 10-race span. Wallace has also scored more points (1527) than all other drivers in the last 10 Daytona races.
Dale Earnhardt Incorporated teammates Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have won six of the last eight restrictor plate races, including three of the last four at Daytona. Waltrip was the only driver to finish in the top-10 in the four restricted races in 2002.
Earnhardt Jr. won two of last season's four restrictor plate events. Waltrip has four straight top-five finishes at Daytona. In the past two seasons they have led 44 percent of the race laps at Daytona and Talladega (649 of 1472 laps).
The 2003 Raybestos Rookie of the Year class is a diverse and accomplished group of drivers:
Greg Biffle is a past NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion (2000) and the reigning NASCAR Busch Series champion.
Jack Sprague won the Truck Series title three times.
Christian Fittipaldi has won two CART races; he was fifth in the 1996 CART standings. He has raced in Formula One.
Jamie McMurray, a WKA champion in karts, has already won a Winston Cup race, scoring a victory in only his second Winston Cup start.
Casey Mears has open-wheel experience in CART, IRL and Indy Lights in addition to a full Busch Series season in 2002.
Larry Foyt has competed in ASA, Formula 2000, karts and the Busch Series.
Tony Raines is a past ASA champion (1996). He won four Truck Series races in his two seasons in the series.
Casey Mears, 24, is the youngest of the rookie group and Tony Raines, 38, is the oldest.
Since the inaugural race, no driver making his first 500 start has ever won the Daytona 500. Junior Johnson, Mario Andretti and Pete Hamilton won the Daytona 500 in their second starts.
For the record, Jack Sprague, Greg Biffle, Christian Fittipaldi, Casey Mears, Jamie McMurray and Tony Raines are making their first Daytona 500 starts -- and Mears will be starting his first Winston Cup race.
The 2003 Daytona 500 will be Rusty Wallace's 40th Daytona start (and 21st 500). He will be seeking to score his first Daytona 500, first Daytona and his first restrictor plate victory in his first point race outing for Dodge.
Tony Stewart finished last in the 2002 Daytona 500 and went on to win the NASCAR Winston Cup championship, repeating a feat accomplished by Cale Yarborough in 1976. Yarborough then came back in 1977 and won that Daytona 500, the only time that a Daytona 500 was won by a driver who finished last the previous year.
Yarborough also won the championship in 1977 (and 1978). Two of the last four 500's have been won by the reigning champion, Jeff Gordon (1999) and Dale Jarrett (2000).
Chevrolet has the most Daytona 500 victories by a manufacturer, with 15. Ford trails with 10 followed by Plymouth with four and Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Buick, Dodge and Mercury with three each.
Seven Daytona 500 winners have won by a margin of one lap or more, most recently by David Pearson in 1976.
Richard Petty leads all other drivers with seven Daytona 500 victories. Dale Jarrett leads all active drivers with three Daytona 500 victories.
Three drivers have won consecutive Daytona 500s: Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95). Ward Burton, the defending champion of the Daytona 500, lines his Caterpillar Dodge up 22nd.
The winner of the Daytona 500 has gone on to win the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship six times: Richard Petty (1964, 1971, 1974, 1979), Cale Yarborough (1977) and Jeff Gordon (1997).
How Important is Track Position in the Daytona 500? Twenty-four of the 44 Daytona 500s have been won from a top-five starting position. Nine have been won from the Bud Pole, including two of the last four: Jeff Gordon (1999) and Dale Jarrett (2000).
The only Daytona 500s won from outside a top-10 starting position since 1980 were Derrike Cope (12th in 1990), Michael Waltrip (19th in 2001) and Ward Burton (19th in 2002).
Feast or famine: Three of the last seven Daytona 500s have ended under caution: 2000, 1998 and 1997. The other four have all had a margin of victory of less than two-tenths of a second: 0.193 second (Ward Burton, 2002), 0.124 second (Michael Waltrip, 2001), 0.128 (Jeff Gordon, 1999) and 0.120 (Dale Jarrett, 1996).
Several drivers have been trying to win the Daytona 500 for many years. Ricky Rudd has gone 25 races without a Daytona 500 victory. Other drivers who are at or approaching the 20 mark without a victory: Terry Labonte, 24; Kyle Petty, 21; Rusty Wallace, 20; Mark Martin, Ken Schrader, 18.
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