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In preparation for the 47th "Great American Race," NASCAR.COM is taking a walk down memory lane to review each of the previous Daytona 500s:

1959 Daytona 500 -- In front of nearly 42,000 fans, Lee Petty edged Johnny Beauchamp by 2 feet in the inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959, earning Petty a payday of $19,050.

1960 Daytona 500 -- Driving a Chevrolet sponsored by the Daytona Beach Kennel Club dog track, Junior Johnson beat Bobby Johns by 23 seconds in the second Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, 1960.

1961 Daytona 500 -- Driving a year-old Pontiac for Smokey Yunick, Marvin Panch beat Joe Weatherly by 16 seconds in the third Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, 1961.

1962 Daytona 500 -- Fireball Roberts won one for the home crowd on Feb. 18, 1962, when his Pontiac finished 27 seconds in front of Richard Petty's Plymouth in the fourth Daytona 500.

1963 Daytona 500 -- Without a ride at the beginning of February, Tiny Lund ended up winning the fifth Daytona 500 on Feb. 24, 1963, as a replacement for Marvin Panch.

1964 Daytona 500 -- Richard Petty dominated the sixth Daytona 500 on Feb. 23, 1964, leading 184 of the 200 laps in his Plymouth and lapping the field.

1965 Daytona 500 -- Fred Lorenzen's Ford outlasted Darel Dieringer's Mercury and Mother Nature to win the rain-shortened seventh Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, 1965.

1966 Daytona 500 -- Richard Petty was more than a lap ahead of the field when the eighth Daytona 500 was called two laps shy of the 500-mile distance because of rain on Feb. 27, 1966.

1967 Daytona 500 -- Mario Andretti beat Fred Lorenzen -- the only two cars left on the lead lap -- in the ninth Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, 1967, a race that finished under caution.

1968 Daytona 500 -- Cale Yarborough beat LeeRoy Yarbrough by one second to win the 10th Daytona 500 on Feb. 25, 1968.

1969 Daytona 500 -- After being beaten on a last-lap slingshot pass the year before, LeeRoy Yarbrough used the same move to beat Charlie Glotzbach in the 11th Daytona 500 on Feb. 23, 1969.

1970 Daytona 500 -- After Richard Petty's Plymouth expired on Lap 7, Petty's team car -- with Pete Hamilton behind the wheel -- won by three car-lengths on Feb. 22, 1970.

1971 Daytona 500 -- When A.J. Foyt ran out of gas, Richard Petty was there to take his third victory in the 13th Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, 1971.

1972 Daytona 500 -- For the second year in a row, A.J. Foyt had the car to beat. This time, he put it in Victory Lane -- winning the 14th Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, 1972.

1973 Daytona 500 -- Down a lap early in the running, Richard Petty stormed back to win the 15th Daytona 500 by more than two laps over Bobby Isaac on Feb. 18, 1973.

1974 Daytona 500 -- Richard Petty survived a flat tire to win his second consecutive Daytona 500 -- and fifth overall -- mainly because Donnie Allison also had tire troubles.

1975 Daytona 500 -- David Pearson spun out while leading two laps from the finish, leaving Benny Parsons to claim victory in the 17th Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, 1975.

1976 Daytona 500 -- David Pearson and Richard Petty crashed coming out of the final turn, and Pearson was able to coax his heavily damaged Mercury across the finish line to win.

1977 Daytona 500 -- Cale Yarborough, who finished last in the 1976 Daytona 500, rebounded to beat Benny Parsons by 1.39 seconds for his second Daytona 500 win on Feb. 20.

1978 Daytona 500 -- Buddy Baker's engine expired with five laps remaining, handing the victory to Bobby Allison, who beat Cale Yarborough to the line by more than 33 seconds.

1979 Daytona 500 -- Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison crashed on the final lap, leaving a surprised Richard Petty to cross the finish line the victor in the 21st Daytona 500 on Feb. 18.

1980 Daytona 500 -- Buddy Baker lifted his long-standing Daytona hex in record-setting style, leading 143 laps on his way to becoming the first winner to top $100,000 in earnings.

1981 Daytona 500 -- Richard Petty took only one can of gas on his last stop, enough of an advantage to outlast Bobby Allison by 4 seconds in the 23rd Daytona 500 on Feb. 15.

1982 Daytona 500 -- Bobby Allison won on Feb. 14 after clipping Cale Yarborough early in the race and getting 40 laps on his final tank of fuel, setting off a firestorm of criticism.

1983 Daytona 500 -- Cale Yarborough destroyed his primary car in a 200 mph flip during qualifying but won with his backup car, thanks to a slingshot pass of Buddy Baker on the final lap.

1984 Daytona 500 -- Cale Yarborough became the first driver to win back-to-back Daytona 500s since Richard Petty in 1973-74, passing Darrell Waltrip on the final lap to win.

1985 Daytona 500 -- Turning laps at a seemingly easy 200 mph, Bill Elliott won the 27th Daytona 500 by setting a blistering pace of 172.265 mph in a race slowed by just five cautions.

1986 Daytona 500 -- When Dale Earnhardt ran out of fuel with three laps to go, Geoff Bodine found himself alone and heading for victory in the 28th Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, 1986.

1987 Daytona 500 -- Geoff Bodine won the fuel gamble in 1986 but couldn't pull it off again. When Bodine ran out of fuel on lap 198, Bill Elliott won for the second time in three years.

1988 Daytona 500 -- With son Davey close behind on the final lap, Bobby Allison pulled away at the line for a victory, making the 50-year-old veteran the oldest driver to win the Daytona 500.

1989 Daytona 500 -- Darrell Waltrip played the fuel mileage game to perfection in the 31st Daytona 500 on Feb. 19, 1989, coasting to victory, then dancing in Victory Lane.

1990 Daytona 500 -- Debris punctured Dale Earnhardt's tire on the final lap, sending his No. 3 Chevrolet fish-tailing up the banking and handing an improbable victory to Derrike Cope.

1991 Daytona 500 -- Late-race incidents damaged the cars of Dale Earnhardt, Kyle Petty, Davey Allison, Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip as Ernie Irvan coasted to the finish under caution.

1992 Daytona 500 -- Davey Allison dodged a 14-car accident that wiped out most of his competition, then led all but five of the final 102 laps on his way to victory in the 34th Daytona 500.

1993 Daytona 500 -- With his father cheering him on from the television booth, Dale Jarrett edged past Dale Earnhardt for the win in the 35th Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, 1993.

1994 Daytona 500 -- Running 59 laps on his final tank of fuel, Sterling Marlin had just enough left to outlast the competition and broke the family's 0-for-443 winless streak in a big way.

1995 Daytona 500 -- With Dale Earnhardt looming in his mirrors, Sterling Marlin used sheer horsepower to become the first driver with back-to-back Daytona 500 victories since Cale Yarborough.

1996 Daytona 500-- For the third time in four years (and in a repeat of the '93 race) Dale Earnhardt finished second. Dale Jarrett was able to block Earnhardt's passing attempts on the final lap.

1997 Daytona 500 -- While Dale Earnhardt was rolling his mangled Chevy to the garage area, 25-year-old Jeff Gordon was celebrating as the youngest winner of the Daytona 500.

1998 Daytona 500 -- After two decades of near-misses, Dale Earnhardt finally visited Daytona's Victory Lane as Daytona 500 champion in the 40th Daytona 500 on Feb. 15.

1999 Daytona 500 -- With 11 laps remaining, Jeff Gordon drove onto the apron heading into Turn 1 to pass Rusty Wallace and win the 41st Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, 1999.

2000 Daytona 500 -- Johnny Benson's Cinderella story turned to ashes when Dale Jarrett was able to pass him on a restart with four laps to go, giving Jarrett his third Daytona 500 victory.

2001 Daytona 500 -- Michael Waltrip's win on Feb. 18, 2001, was the first Cup points race victory of his career, but the day is remembered for the death of Dale Earnhardt.

2002 Daytona 500 -- Curiousity got the better of Sterling Marlin in his effort for a third 500 victory. Marlin's gaffe cost him a shot at more than $1 million -- and Ward Burton got the win.

2003 Daytona 500 -- When the rains came a second time, Michael Waltrip walked to Victory Lane, umbrella in hand, after the 45th Daytona 500 was stopped after 109 laps.

2004 Daytona 500 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. needed just five tries to capture the race that eluded his father for 20 years, holding off Tony Stewart and Scott Wimmer to win.