DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Team Penske’s trio dominated to lead 125 of 201 laps in the Daytona 500, but the title-defending organization came away with bent fenders and frustration after a Lap 186 crash instead of a Harley J. Earl Trophy.
Just 10 laps later, Ryan Preece launched skyward, heading down the Daytona International Speedway backstretch, flipping upside down at the 2.5-mile superspeedway for the second time in three years.
The aggression that led to those dramatic visuals highlight the desperation that comes with trying to win the “Great American Race.”
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano led 43 of the first 70 laps but was forced to rally back through the field after debris caught in his motor created a setback during Stage 2. That rally charged him to fifth place with 15 laps to go in the Daytona 500.
Working Lap 186 and trailing Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the middle lane, Logano surged to Stenhouse’s left with a run to move past the No. 47 Chevrolet. Logano moved to wedge his No. 22 Ford between Stenhouse and Blaney, but Stenhouse threw the block to protect the position.
With time running low, Logano had no intentions of rescinding his advance. That decision ultimately led to contact to Stenhouse’s left rear from Logano’s right front, turning Stenhouse squarely into then-second-place-runner Ryan Blaney – Logano’s Penske teammate – and spinning both of them out. The melee also collected Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Noah Gragson and Todd Gilliland, totaling eight vehicles.
“It just seemed like the No. 47 had a bit of an indecisive moment,” Logano said. “That’s what gets you in trouble at times is when you’ve got to pick one (lane).”
Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 champ, believed he needed to get in front of Stenhouse, he said, and saw his opportunity to drop in front of Gragson. He pounced on that chance but to the dismay of himself and others.
“We had a late block. I lifted,” Logano said. “Looked like he was gonna go back up. I went to go back in there, and then he came back down and started lifting again. And then at that point, the checkup was so big, and all the cars behind you and shoving you into it, and at that point, you’re along for the ride.”
Stenhouse, the 2023 winner of the “Great American Race,” had winning on his brain too and believes he and Logano could have worked together to fight among themselves. Before Logano moved low, he was third in the outside lane behind Corey LaJoie and Stenhouse.
“I was bummed that he was trying to make a move on us because I felt like me, him and LaJoie were getting ready to drive to first, second and third, and then we could race it out,” Stenhouse told NASCAR.com. “We still had 10 laps to go. So pretty disappointed about that. But I mean, you’ve got to try and take those gaps when you can, I guess, and he always takes them. We know that.”
And with a prestigious victory on the line, Logano was wasting no moves.
“I don’t know what to do differently,” Logano said. “At the moment, it’s easy to say, just don’t make the move, but not making the move doesn’t win the race either.”
Ten laps later, those same motives led to the night’s most hair-raising moment at Lap 196.
Heading the outside lane, Christopher Bell received a hearty shove from Cole Custer on the backstretch, which turned him head-on into the outside wall. Bouncing off the SAFER barrier, Bell spun back into traffic and into the path of Preece.
Preece’s No. 60 RFK Racing Ford climbed the left-front corner of Bell’s No. 20 Toyota and effectively wheelied down the backstretch. Air caught the underbelly of Preece’s car, sending the car airborne and upside down into the 31-degree banking of Turn 3. The vehicle turned back onto its wheels just before it backed atop the SAFER barrier and slid back to the grass.
The ambitious push from Custer to Bell was made in hopes of a victory. Preece paid the price in lieu of a trophy for any of the three. After a horrendous tumble down the same backstretch in the summer of 2023, Preece expressed his frustration after another violent ride.
“Something needs to be done,” Preece said, “because cars lifting off the ground like that … I mean, that felt, honestly, worse than Daytona in ’23.”
But even Bell, at the epicenter of the accident’s origins, couldn’t pin blame on Custer for the aggressive bump draft, not with a Harley J. Earl Trophy and a chance to etch your name in NASCAR history on the line.
“Nobody did anything wrong,” Bell said. “You have to be pushing if you want to succeed, and it’s the name of the game. So, nobody did anything wrong. Just the way it goes.”
The 67th running of the Daytona 500 was delayed for more than four hours due to inclement weather that led to two red-flag stoppages. Eleven of the scheduled 200 laps were completed in the “Great American Race” before the first delay, which lasted more than three hours. Drivers got back in the cars and took eight caution laps before returning to pit road for a second weather delay. RELATED: At-track photos | Meet the 2025 Daytona 500 field
Polesitter Chase Briscoe led the field to green to open the 2025 Cup Series regular season alongside Austin Cindric. Briscoe led four laps and shared the lead with Ty Dillon and William Byron.
Byron was the leader at the moment of caution and guided the field onto pit road ahead of the first red flag. Each of the field’s 41 drivers were instructed to drive to their respective pit boxes for the duration of the stoppage. Byron led Cindric, Ty Dillon, Briscoe and Ross Chastain early in the 67th annual 500-miler in Daytona Beach.
Below was the running order that was seen once the race resumed.
A total of 10 cars will drop to the rear of the field before the start of Sunday’s Daytona 500 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Daytona International Speedway.
A pair of Cup Series champions each looking for their first Daytona 500 crowns in Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson, as well as four-time Indy 500 champion Hélio Castroneves, are among those that will drop to the back before the green flag for the 67th “Great American Race.”
The 67th running of the Great American Race — the Daytona 500 — kicks off the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season.
Daytona always produces intense racing, and with the aerodynamic and engine package that’s run here, at Talladega Superspeedway, and at Atlanta, that intensity can quickly turn into calamity — or glory.
One stat I like to point to is how winning at Daytona is hard! If we take the top eight superspeedway drivers between the two big superspeedways, Daytona and Talladega, they’ve won a combined eight times in 137 starts in what I call the “chaos races.” To me, that means the Daytona 500 and the second Daytona race, specifically when it has been positioned one or two races away from the playoff cutoff on the schedule.
That is a 5.8% hit rate, so it becomes very hard to bet any driver at anything shorter than about 16-1 when the very cream of the crop are winning at a sub-six percent rate. So while I do think the likes of Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Brad Keselowski are rightly the race favorites, it’s just too hard to bet them at such short prices.
That means I’ll be looking down the order to find value.
As always with superspeedway betting, and particularly Daytona, keep your bets small, feel free to sprinkle the board on some long shots, and hope your bets survive what’s likely to be a chaotic handful of laps as the 500 miles — or more — wind down.
Daytona 500 Odds, Expert Picks
Austin Cindric to Win Daytona 500
In his young career, Austin Cindric has quickly transformed into one of the best superspeedway drivers in the series. He’s finished second or better in all four of his Daytona Duel races, has a win in the Daytona 500, and last year was one of just two drivers to lead 12-plus laps at all four races at Daytona and Talladega.
My model has him not far off his Team Penske teammates, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, as one of the favorites to win the Great American Race.
If you can get him 20-1 or longer, my model likes that value.
The Bet: Austin Cindric to win (+2400 at FanDuel) | Bet to: +2000
Ross Chastain to Win Daytona 500
The market has sharpened over the week of on-track action, but I’m still showing moderate value on a driver that fits a couple of characteristics I really look for at superspeedways.
Ross Chastain is capable of winning at superspeedways, having already pulled off the feat once at the 2022 GEICO 500 at Talladega.
The other factor: aggression.
Chastain has no problem making an aggressive push or block, or making a daring move into a hole that barely exists. We saw that come to a head again at Talladega in 2023 as Noah Gragson led the field with Chastain lined up directly behind him on the high line on an overtime restart. Chastain went for a small hole between Gragson and Blaney and ultimately put Gragson into the outside wall.
My model has Chastain at 3.9% to win, which is just around 25-1 as fair value. To leave a little wiggle room, I’d be fine playing this down to 28-1, but definitely shop for the 30-1 and 31-1 prices out there at BetMGM and FanDuel if you can.
The Bet: Chastain to win (+3100 at FanDuel) | Bet to: +2800
John Hunter Nemechek Top-10 Finish, Top Toyota
Nemechek enters his third full-time Cup Series season, but this is the first time he kicks his Cup year off with continuity from the year prior. His team, Legacy Motor Club (LMC), nearly won a Daytona Duel race already this year as Erik Jones trailed Cindric by about a foot when the caution flag flew to end the race on the last lap.
That shows what those LMC cars are capable of.
Nemechek is also plenty capable, grabbing five straight top-11 finishes at Daytona and Talladega to start his career. He hasn’t had a top-11 at these tracks since, but that still gives him a 62.5% rate of finishing 11th or better in eight career Cup starts at the two big superspeedways.
My model give him just shy of a 20% chance to finish inside the top 10, so I’m fine playing this to around +450.
The Bets: John Hunter Nemechek Top 10 (+470 at FanDuel), Top Toyota (+3000 at DraftKings) | Bet to: +450 and +2500, respectively
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed began their tenure as Haas Factory Team teammates in exemplary fashion on Saturday night.
The fresh-faced Ford duo avoided calamity and worked together to forge Haas Factory into a new era in the rebranded organization’s debut race, starting strong with a second-place finish for Mayer ahead of third-place Creed at Daytona International Speedway.
Mayer and Creed opted for the inside lane on the overtime restart in the United Rentals 300, leading their lane with an excellent opportunity to win. But leader Jesse Love got a helpful shove from Taylor Gray to clear Mayer and pounce to the bottom lane. The Haas duo broke up momentarily through Turns 3 and 4 with Creed utilizing a huge run to charge to the outside. But a multicar crash through the tri-oval coming to the white flag eliminated any chance for Mayer or Creed to fight for the win, instead allowing Love to score the season-opening victory.
Nonetheless, nothing could sour a podium day for HFT’s debut start, netting dual top fives in their inaugural outing. Mayer, who joined the No. 41 team after three-and-a-half years under the JR Motorsports banner, was elated with the group’s performance.
“It was awesome,” Mayer said. “This was some of the most fun I’ve had working with a teammate, just purely because at JRM, there’s four, sometimes five of us, so you’re kind of working with whoever’s around you because there’s someone around you at all times. Whereas now, you have to really find your one teammate out there and really hook up with him and do everything on your own.
“It was a lot of fun because it was challenging, but we both did a really good job. Sheldon is one of the best (restrictor) plate racers in the series right now, so that helps a lot, too.”
Creed was equally overjoyed with his opening run with HFT’s No. 00 team, slotting into a seat previously filled by 2023 champion Cole Custer after Creed spent 2024 with Joe Gibbs Racing.
“I had a lot of fun — probably the funnest I’ve had on a speedway,” Creed told NASCAR.com. “Usually I get, like, frustrated and (wonder) ‘What do I do?’ But I just tried to not get mad and take every run. I had a lot of fun tonight.”
That philosophy led Creed to leave the back bumper of Mayer heading into Turn 3 on the final green-flag lap in an effort to move farther forward.
“We talked about it before, and we were just like, ‘Take every run you have,'” Creed said. “Like, if we’re together, help each other. If lanes are falling, you can let one another in, but it’s your job to get yourself there. And then, once you’re there, just take your runs. We won’t get mad at each other. We get the full help when we do. I thought it worked well.”
Brittney Wilbur | NASCAR Digital Media
Haas Factory Team president Joe Custer was thrilled to open a new chapter for his organization’s shop in Kannapolis, North Carolina, with such positivity. The team’s prior run as Stewart-Haas Racing ended its Xfinity era in Victory Lane at Phoenix Raceway with Riley Herbst in November 2024. To kick off the Haas Factory campaign with second and third-place finishes in the next event meant a significant deal to Custer.
“It’s critical for our company,” Custer told NASCAR.com. “We’re Haas Factory Team now. And we love our heritage, but there’s new people, and we want to charter a destiny going forward to compliment the past, and these guys are doing it. And I can’t wait to get to the shop on Monday and celebrate. But make no mistake, we’re working at the shop Sunday, literally.
“But this kind of cohesive commitment from everybody in the company makes it so fun, and the drivers did their parts. I expect them to do what they did. I’m not sitting here going, ‘I didn’t think that would happen.’ I’m thinking, ‘That’s exactly what they’re capable of.’ And they can give better, and we intend to.”
Custer, father of Cole Custer, who returns to the Cup Series this year, said the team unity displayed Saturday night is the same that he’s seen over the past two months in the offseason. The group, he said, has “completely committed” to the idea of “two cars, one mission.”
“We didn’t get the win, so we got some work to do,” Custer said. “But as far as what the drivers delivered and the team and the pit stops and the strategy and the commitment to restart together, it speaks for itself. …
“We work from a standard of constant improvement. So if we can start at this level and see areas that we can (improve on) — and we do have areas we can improve on. It’s gonna be a fun year. It’s all the human capital.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In a typically wild finish at Daytona International Speedway, Jesse Love won the NASCAR Xfinity Series season opener in overtime — taking the white flag moments before a massive multicar accident behind him brought out a caution officially ending the United Rentals 300.
An out-of-breath Love emerged from his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet’s roof hatch on the Daytona infield grass to the cheers of his team celebrating the 20-year-old Californian’s second career win.
“So many people have helped me get to this point,” said Love, who led three times for 30 laps on the evening.
“Not sure what happened to the 21 (teammate Austin Hill) tonight, but he was really dominant tonight,” Love continued. “We’re working on changing our culture here at RCR. We’re winners, we know we are and we really want to win a championship for Richard Childress. I’m ready to go to [the next race at] Atlanta now.”
Love put his Chevrolet out front on the final three restarts, exchanging the point briefly with Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed before taking the position for good with 18 laps remaining and ultimately holding off the Haas drivers Sam Mayer and Creed. Rookies Carson Kvapil and Taylor Gray were just behind rounding out the top five.
As Love indicated, for most of the early race, it looked as if his teammate, three-time defending race winner Hill was going to turn in an incredible fourth straight win in the season opener. He won both Stage 1 and 2, leading 56 of the opening 82 laps — the most laps out front all night. Together Love and Hill led all but 40 of the race’s 126 laps
Hill’s No. 21 RCR Chevrolet, however, had engine issues shortly after the second stage break — Hill reported smoke inside his cockpit and other drivers said his car was leaking fluid out the back.
Although Hill stayed out front, he pitted with a handful of other Chevrolets on Lap 80, and when the RCR team checked under the hood, it was apparent the issue was terminal.
The team declared the car done, reiterating to their driver it wasn’t “for lack of effort” on the night.
“Such a bummer, we had such a fast Chevrolet,” Hill said after parking his car in the garage. “Everybody at RCR and ECR did a great job building this race car. We showed we were the dominant team again getting the stage wins there. I just wish that we could have lost this race on our terms, not from a mechanical failure.
“I’d almost rather get turned on the backstretch on the white flag lap and end up on my lid than have it end like this. This one is going to sting a little bit, but we have Atlanta next week and I feel like we’re going to be good all year long in 2025. I feel really good about this team.”
The two rookies who finished inside the top five were indicative of a strong showing for the large first-year class. Several were eliminated while running inside the top 10 on track — from Daniel Dye in the race’s opening accident to highly-touted series newcomers Connor Zilisch, William Sawalich and Christian Eckes, who were all collected in an accident with three laps remaining in regulation — all running in the top 10 at the time.
Last summer’s Daytona Cup Series race winner Harrison Burton finished sixth in his return to full-time Xfinity Series racing. Jordan Anderson, Dean Thompson, Jeremy Clements and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top 10 in a race that saw 11 different leaders and 24 lead changes on the 2.5-mile Daytona high banks.
Clements set the Xfinity Fastest Lap of the race earning a bonus point. Creed takes a nine-point lead over Love atop the early championship standings.
The Xfinity Series returns to competition next Saturday on the Atlanta Motor Speedway high banks at 5 p.m. ET. (The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Georgia native Hill swept both Atlanta races last year.
NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Love as the race winner.
Track: Daytona International Speedway
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida Track length: 2.5 miles When: Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET Where to tune in: FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Race purse: $30,331,250 Race distance: 200 laps | 500 miles Stages: 65 | 130 | 200 Defending winner:William Byron, February 2024 Starting lineup: Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric on front row
Prestige on the line in the “Great American Race”
Chase Elliott knows the weight that comes with winning the Daytona 500. The son of two-time Daytona 500 champion Bill Elliott has seen firsthand that the “Great American Race” is, perhaps, the most special event on the entire NASCAR calendar.
Still in search of his own Harley J. Earl Trophy after nine prior attempts, he also knows what wait comes with winning the Daytona 500 — and that it will be worth the wait if he ever lands in Victory Lane.
“It means a great opportunity to submit your name in the history books of the sport,” Elliott said Wednesday, with a clear view of that trophy ahead of him during Daytona 500 Media Day.
Forty-one drivers will have that same opportunity Sunday afternoon when the green flag flies for the 67th annual running of the “Great American Race” (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). A handful — like Elliott, Todd Gilliland and Ryan Blaney — have an even deeper appreciation for their chance at glory after watching their fathers pursue it themselves.
David Gilliland was the polesitter for the 2007 Daytona 500. Dave Blaney nearly scored the victory in 2012 after a lengthy red flag. Today, their sons have their eyes set on a win that could ultimately change their lives.
“Personally, this race means the most by far of anything,” Todd Gilliland said. “I think it’s the biggest race in the whole world. I do think a lot of that comes from growing up around the race track. And I think one of my earliest memories is my dad being on the pole in that 2007 Daytona 500. Just feeling the energy, being down on pit road at such a young age, I think made me (realize) that’s a feeling I want to feel one day. And then once I ran my first Daytona 500, it was amazing. It was everything I’ve hoped for. So just to be able to come back, it’s really hard. There’s so much pressure, so much anticipation.”
Ethan Smith | For NASCAR Digital Media
Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, felt that same rush growing up before running his first 500 in 2015. Ten years later and now married, Blaney wants nothing more than to walk out of the 2.5-mile mecca of motorsports as a different kind of champion.
“I think it would just mean a lot to me personally to have my family here because Dad spent so many years trying to win it,” Ryan Blaney said. “And I’ve spent so many years (trying), so having that all come full circle I think would be pretty big.”
Other past champions of the sport have been searching for their Daytona 500 glory even longer. Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champ, is 0-for-19 in the “Great American Race.”
“Two years ago, we led mile-marker 500, but unfortunately, we were coming to the yellow (flag),” Busch said. “Been right there. Been close. Finished second, finished third, finished fourth, all the top five spots. There’s definitely some angst over trying to win this one.”
The relief, glory and immortality that comes with hoisting the Harley J. Earl Trophy makes the wait worth it for those who finally win.
From atop the pit box …
What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Sunday’s race?
Simplistic as it sounds, to win the race, one must have enough fuel to get to the checkered flag. But it’s the driver who spends the least time on pit road who will have the best opportunity to win the Daytona 500.
To do so, drivers will need to burn fuel efficiently while racing two- and three-wide in the pack at 190 mph. Race in the throes of the pack, and the turbulent air of the draft will aid the driver’s ability to conserve Sunoco gasoline. But the deeper they’re mired in the field, the more difficult it is to work back to the front of the field.
Mike Ehrmann | Getty Images
Billy Scott, crew chief of Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota at 23XI Racing, explained that maximizing the pit cycle by spending the least amount of time refueling will be the key to winning.
“That’s the hardest part is finding the balance,” Scott told NASCAR.com Saturday. “You want to save fuel, certainly, and everybody’s doing it to some level. But you also don’t want to get so far back that you come off pit road behind everybody. It’s a tough balance. The drivers have a big part in that, perfecting their ability to save it. A lot of it, though, just comes down to execution on the cycle.”
Circumstances also demand effective relationships between the driver, crew chief and spotter to ensure the driver is abreast of how much fuel he or she can afford to use.
“Communication is the key at these races right now,” No. 8 crew chief Randall Burnett told NASCAR.com Friday. “So the driver knows where he’s at relative to other guys, the amount of fuel savings, getting on and off pit road and executing a clean race.”
History tells us…
Don’t panic if your driver doesn’t lead early. According to Racing Insights, the eventual winner of the Daytona 500 did not lead for the first time until Lap 157 or later in seven of the last eight runnings of the “Great American Race.” Four of the last eight winners didn’t lead for the first time until Lap 200 or later.
He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …
ERIK JONES. He appeared to be the winner of the second Duel at Daytona on Thursday night … until video showed the caution came out just before Jones’ No. 43 Toyota got to the start/finish line on the final lap, inches behind Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Ford. Jones has won at Daytona before — albeit in the 400-mile summer race back in 2018. He’s also carrying the number Richard Petty made famous, in part, by winning seven Daytona 500s. After a strong showing from the Toyotas on Thursday, perhaps Jones can restore glory to the No. 43 all over again in the “Great American Race” on Sunday.
Speed reads
Our biggest pieces of the Speedweeks — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Racing Insights: Full finishing order projections for Sunday’s “Great American Race” | Read article
• JRM to make Cup debut: Earnhardts savor moment as Allgaier races into Daytona 500 | Read article
• Try, try again: Brad Keselowski zones in on ‘last crown jewel’ in Daytona 500 | Read article • Now boarding: Daytona Beach International Airport sparks NASCAR season each year | Read article
• Built by hands: Sculptor John Lajba on the intricate details of Daytona’s Earnhardt, France family statues | Watch video • NASCAR Classics: Revisit thrillers from past Daytona 500s | Visit NASCAR Classics
• Paint Scheme Preview: New schemes aplenty ahead of new season | Pick your favorite
Brad Keselowski topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s final NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Daytona International Speedway for Sunday’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The No. 6 RFK Racing Ford driver set the pace at 193.307 mph over Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman (193.274 mph) and Haas Factory Team’s Cole Custer (193.212 mph).
This was an important session for Keselowski, who did not set a time in Friday’s practice while his team continued to prepare his backup car after the primary car suffered damage in his Duel race Thursday night.
Justin Allgaier (193.204 mph) and Kyle Larson (193.195 mph) rounded out the top five.
Corey LaJoie (193.166 mph), Ryan Preece (193.029 mph), Justin Haley (193.005 mph), Chris Buescher (192.806 mph) and Zane Smith (192.707 mph) completed the top 10.
Like Keselowski, Justin Haley, Shane van Gisbergen and Daniel Suárez did not participate in practice on Friday but all got valuable on-track time in the final session Saturday before the 500-mile crown jewel race.
Van Gisbergen and Suárez were 18th and 19th fastest, respectively. Their Trackhouse Racing teammate Hélio Castroneves got 14 laps of practice under his belt in his repaired No. 91 Chevrolet, setting the 20th fastest time at 189.629 mph.
Early Saturday afternoon, Castroneves finished fifth in the ARCA Menards Series season opener at Daytona, driving the No. 82 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet.
Only 24 drivers participated in this session, while the rest of the field shifted their focus to the “Great American Race.” Many on-track participants turned laps in the draft and practiced execution on the pit road.
For 17 consecutive years, the final descent into Daytona Beach International Airport in February has seemed the unofficial start of the NASCAR season for Joey Logano.
The approach offers a jaw-droppingly sprawling vista of the 2.5-mile home to the Daytona 500 that kicks off the year annually.
“It’s still cool, and it never changes,” the three-time Cup Series champion said. “I always enjoy the first flight of the year because you get on, and everyone is excited. You land right next to the race track, then you drive right into the tunnel, and it’s, ‘OK, a new year, here we go.’ That magic to me has never left.
“It is more fun now to do that with your kids. My oldest being 7, he gets excited when he sees the race track flying in now. He’s like, ‘Oh, it’s right there!’ and you’re landing, and he’s still talking about it. That’s a little extra special moment.”
From sheer physical proximity to an awe-inspiring arrival zone, Daytona Beach International Airport is the literal doorstep to Daytona International Speedway.
It’s fewer than five minutes from the unloading zone on Catalina Drive to the Turn 4 tunnel – making it the shortest trip from an airport to virtually any major sports stadium in the country.
The track actually occupies 376 of the airport’s 2,000 acres. It’s a swath that cuts through Turns 2 and 3 and is leased by the track for facility buildings and parking lots (DAB counts DIS among its oldest long-term tenants).
That next-door presence has made the airport synonymous with some of the most iconic images in the speedway’s history.
There have been four DAB landings by Air Force One during NASCAR weekends, including a very famous arrival by President Ronald Reagan during Richard Petty’s 200th and final victory.
“I think the airport is such a critical component in the success of NASCAR at the World Center of Racing, from presidents of the United States to presidents of the FIA,” track president Frank Kelleher said. “The ease and the luxury that it is right behind the backstretch and with the police escort, you quickly can get right to at the start-finish line.
“It’s one of the busiest airports in the state of Florida, and when you stack on from the Rolex 24, through the Daytona 500 through the conclusion of Supercross, it’s got to just be a breathtaking number of jets in and out.”
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Digital Media
Airports have played a longtime intrinsic role in NASCAR. The Cup Series’ first road course race was held June 13, 1954 at an airport in Linden, New Jersey (Al Keller won in a Jaguar). Many tracks (namely Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway) lay claim to having adjacent airstrips.
But DAB is unique in having commercial flights that link the World Center of Racing to the outside world in a way unlike any other speedway.
Air traffic spikes during Speedweeks with nearly 10,000 flying in and out of the 175,000-square-foot airport that has six gates and an international terminal. This year, Friday was busiest with an additional eight flights, more than doubling the arriving passenger capacity to 2,300. Undoubtedly, at least a few were fans visiting NASCAR’s cathedral of speed for the first time.
Flying in from the west over I-95 and its nearby junctions with I-4 and International Speedway Boulevard, they were treated with an eye-popping introduction to the speedway. The runway is so close, it’s easy to read the car numbers on the scoring pylon.
“Years ago, we used to have a slogan, ‘If you land any closer to the speedway, you’d be on the backstretch,’ ” said airport director Karen Feaster, who has worked at DAB for 32 years.
Feaster said the speedway and airport have a tight working relationship reflective of their neighborly location.
During a recent hurricane season, an Aer Lingus flight from Orlando to Dublin was diverted to DAB for a late-night emergency landing that created a scramble to find lodging. Noticing several Florida Power & Light buses were staged in the DIS parking lot, airport officials called the track, which helped coordinate busing the stranded passengers out of Daytona within an hour.
The airport and speedway regularly meet about their big events and prepare contingency plans. In a triennial drill to test the airport’s emergency response, the track took part in simulating a plane crash into Lake Lloyd, assembling hundreds of first responders in the infield.
“We’re very intertwined, and they work very well with us,” Feaster said of the Daytona track. “They’re always open to help in any way they can, and we are as well. So it’s just really nice having that relationship.”
The airport’s operations and security team also work with Daytona International Speedway for the logistics of accommodating special guests and VIPs, such as Air Force One and the motorcade of more than 100 vehicles for the short drive to the track.
Reagan’s July 4, 1984 visit was the first to a NASCAR race by a sitting president, followed by George H.W. Bush on July 4, 1992, George W. Bush on Feb. 15, 2004 and Donald Trump on Feb. 16, 2020.
Each gave the command to start engines, and Reagan famously delivered his address while in flight. His landing at DAB was captured on national TV as a memorable backstretch backdrop for stock cars racing near halfway of the Firecracker 400.
Reagan witnessed the final 50 laps from the press box and then congratulated Petty in person at an “invitation-only” postrace picnic that drew a crowd of 1,200.
“It just blew his mind that we were running at each other like that at 200 mph,” Petty later told reporters while chomping a victory cigar. “He couldn’t believe we were touching at those speeds.”
During his high-profile stay, Reagan anointed NASCAR as “a major American sport” in praising drivers for a courageous display.
“We are celebrating our country’s birthday and the skill and daring of our forefathers,” Reagan said. “If Patrick Henry had been here, from what I’ve read about him, he would have been out there in one of those cars.”
NASCAR Research & Archives Center | Getty Images
Aside from sharing property, the airport and race track also share daredevil roots in the white sands of the world’s most famous beach.
At roughly the same time that stock cars began zooming around the famous south and north turns on the road course along A1A, the beach also was serving as a runway for pilots who were hired by upscale hotels to provide entertainment for guests. With a growing need for airmail deliveries, it eventually morphed into the first airport in Volusia County.
It moved from the beach to Bethune Point along the Halifax River in 1928. Two years later (and near 30 years before Daytona International Speedway was born), the airport was moved to its current location and became a pilot training ground during World War II.
Terminal construction began in 1942 to establish a new gateway to the city then known as “the Atlantic City of the South.” Volusia County took over management in 1969, and the newly rechristened Daytona Beach International Airport unveiled a $47 million renovation in 1992 with a 10,500-foot runway extension and widened access roads snaking around the speedway.
DAB endured rocky years before and after Sept. 11 (with the departure of US Airways and Continental, only Delta remained with six daily flights at the end of 2001). But the airport has rebounded well in the 21st century as a quieter alternative to the vacationing throngs of families who swarm Orlando.
In a 2022 economic impact study, the Florida Department of Transportation estimated DAB generates $3.2 billion annually for the region (up from $2.1 billion in 2019), and more than 719,000 flew through the airport last year. With a high volume of flight training for nearby Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, DAB consistently ranks as Florida’s fifth-busiest airport – and Speedweeks ensures February typically is its craziest month.
Delta added flights this week from New York’s LaGuardia and Detroit, and American brought in extra planes from Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. New DAB carrier Breeze used Speedweeks to launch twice weekly flights to Westchester County, New York, Providence, Rhode Island, Hartford, Connecticut, and Raleigh, North Carolina.
The airport runs promotions to highlight its NASCAR connections (two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip recently was a celebrity bartender and greeter). Joanne Magley, the director of air service, marketing and customer experience at DAB, said the race track sells itself when there are cars on track.
“The exposure during events at DIS is very valuable, mainly for visitors who may not realize Daytona Beach has a commercial airport,” she said. “Anytime there’s racing going, you can hear the race cars all the time, so imagine if you’re a visitor just getting off the plane, and you’re hearing that already.”
Even those immersed in racing can be awed. When he flew in for an ARCA test, Alex Bowman recalls being shocked at “how big the race track and the facility are and just the magnitude of everything” from the majestic bird’s-eye view.
“Landing next to the race track is always really special,” Bowman said. “It definitely kind of feels like that first day of the year at school.”
Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.
