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Credit: Autostock
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
February 13, 2004
5:11 PM EST (2211 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The opening event of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, the Daytona 500, is the 46th annual "Great American Race" at Daytona International Speedway.
And while Nextel is opening at least a 10-year relationship as the series sponsor, the event has already established an extensive numerological history.
2 -- The number of drivers who have competed in all 64 restrictor-plate races since 1988 -- including 37 at Daytona -- without a victory: Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd.
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3 -- The number of times in the last 24 races the Daytona 500 winner has started outside the top 10, by Derrike Cope (started 12th, 1990), Michael Waltrip (19th, 2001) and Ward Burton (19th, 2002).
3 -- The leading number of Daytona 500 victories by an active driver, by Dale Jarrett.
4 -- The number of times in the last 25 years that the outside pole starter has won the Daytona 500, by Geoffrey Bodine (1986), Darrell Waltrip (1989), Ernie Irvan (1991) and Dale Jarrett (1993).
6 -- The number of times in the last 25 years that the pole winner has won the Daytona 500, by Buddy Baker (1980), Cale Yarborough (1984), Bill Elliott (1985 and 1987), Jeff Gordon (1999) and Dale Jarrett (2000).
7 -- The number of times the Daytona 500 winner has gone on to win the NASCAR championship, most recently by Jeff Gordon in 1997.
7 -- The number of times a winner of a Daytona 500 qualifying race has gone on to win the Great American Race since 1959.
7 -- The leading number of career victories in the Daytona 500, by Richard Petty.
15 -- The most leaders in the Daytona 500, most recently in 1996.
16 -- The leading number of victories in the history of the Daytona 500 by Chevrolet. Chevrolet drivers have won seven of the last 10 races.
26 -- The leading number of Daytona 500 starts without a victory by an active driver, by Ricky Rudd.
33 -- The greatest number of Daytona 500 starts without a win, by Dave Marcis.
33.2 -- The greatest margin of victory in the Daytona 500, in seconds, by Bobby Allison over Cale Yarborough in 1978.
41 -- The number of victories at Daytona International Speedway by the Earnhardt family: 34 by Dale Earnhardt and seven by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
60 -- The most caution laps in the Daytona 500, in 1968.
60 -- The most lead changes in the Daytona 500, in 1974.
177.602 -- The Daytona 500 race record average speed, in miles per hour, by Buddy Baker in 1980.
184 -- The most laps led by a Daytona 500 winner, by Richard Petty in 1964.
15,972,313 --- The NASCAR record posted awards for the Daytona 500, in dollars.
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