See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series driver will pit for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
RELATED: Starting lineup | Weekend schedule | At-track photos
The first thing you need to know about the Daytona 500 trophy is that it is heavy, as in, it weighs a lot. Like, really heavy, like, I don’t care how strong you are, you would not want to lift that thing over your head on live TV, especially not after racing 500 grueling miles on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway.
The second thing you need to know about the Daytona 500 trophy is that it is heavy, as in, the pursuit of it weighs on drivers, consumes them, eats up their insides. The endless chase to win the Daytona 500 exacts an unending toll on them, their families, their friends, their teams, even their fans. Chasing dreams, especially dreams that, if fulfilled, make you a legend, is not free or easy. It leaves scars if you never catch those dreams … and even if you do. The cruel irony is winning one only makes you want another one that much more.
Since 1996, Daytona 500 winners have borne the weight of trophies crafted by Omaha sculptor John Lajba (LIE-buh). The trophies weigh on him, too. He feels an obligation to the entire sport as he creates art meant to convey weight in both the literal and metaphorical sense — the weight of glory.
• • •
It’s a bitingly cold Friday in January. Wind slices through downtown Omaha as Lajba welcomes a crew from NASCAR.com to his studio. The Daytona 500 is less than a month away in sunny, warm Florida, 1,387 miles from freezing, dreary Nebraska.
The Harley J. Earl Trophy sits on a table under plastic sheeting in Lajba’s studio. There’s three of them, actually — one for the winning driver, one for the winning owner and one for the Thunderbirds to celebrate 25 years of flyovers.
The trophies are not literally glowing under there, it just seems like it. Lajba has spent the past five months creating them with a team of about 10 others. He finished them in the last few days; the NASCAR.com crew is the first to see the finished products.
We keep our distance at first, which is fine by Lajba. “I won’t even look at them without putting gloves on,” he says, and he’s joking, but barely. He stores them in a dust-free and static-free environment, and he “washes” them only with Lemon Pledge and microfiber towels. He never wears rings or belt buckles near them and is wary of shirts with buttons.
He dropped a wheel from the car on the trophy once, years ago. It clanged on his floor like a steel rod and cost him three weeks and several hundred dollars.
Maybe nobody would have ever seen the tiny dent.
But he knew it was there, and there was no way he could leave it like that. There was too much at stake. Lajba has been making the trophy since the 1996 race, and he approaches each one with something close to awe at being chosen for such a privilege. “It’s beyond pride,” he says. “It really touches me. I feel honored and blessed.”
Lajba obliges a request to uncover the trophies, and they glisten when he does. I’ve seen versions of the trophy many times — on TV and in person in the media center at Daytona and in trophy cases. But I’ve never looked down on one from above, as I do now. I never realized the base is shaped like Daytona International Speedway.
MORE: 25 Days of Daytona | Full weekend schedule
Lajba gives me a pair of gloves and invites me to lift it. Confession: I don’t want to. Hockey players are superstitious and won’t touch the Stanley Cup until they’ve won it. My trepidation is more practical: I don’t want to be known as the guy who dropped the Harley J. Earl Trophy. If dropping a wheel cost him three weeks and hundreds of dollars, what would it cost him if I dropped the whole thing?
But I also don’t want to be so afraid of life that I won’t lift a trophy. Holding it from the side is awkward. Add the weight and yikes! I hoist it a few inches off the table and set it down. He says it weighs 62 pounds. It felt like more than that, and that heft “is a necessity,” Lajba says. The Daytona 500 trophy has to have presence, physicality, meatiness. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be worthy of the victory it represents.
It goes without saying that this is the most coveted race trophy in American motorsports. It’s also the most displayed. I can’t prove this, but I feel confident in saying none of Lajba’s trophies are gathering dust in a warehouse as countless lesser trophies surely are.
Jeff Gordon, for example, won 93 Cup races. He couldn’t possibly display all of them. I interviewed him in his trophy room in his basement once. He had seven race trophies; all three of his Daytona 500 wins are among them.
William Byron, winner of last year’s race, has examined his Harley J. Earl Trophy closely, admiring Lajba’s craftsmanship. He has moved it from his living room to his front entry to his office, where it lives now. He likes how the coloring and the material come together. “The weight of it,” he says, “closely relates to the weight of the win.”
The weight of the win … that’s not there yet on the trophies in Lajba’s studio.
The life of the Daytona 500 trophy is like the life of the winner of it: It changes dramatically when the race ends. As it sits in Lajba’s studio, the Harley J. Earl Trophy represents one thing: hope. Everyone in the sport yearns to win one. Then the race ends, and that hope vanishes because who hopes for what he already has?
The second the race ends, the trophy becomes about “strength and power and speed,” just as Lajba crafted it to be.
• • •
Lajba’s 14,000 square feet studio spreads across three floors, and inside it looks like an antique shop’s warehouse. The items scattered about reflect the curiosity that propels him.
His studio features a statue of a man crawling out of the wall, an old pickup truck and a ping-pong table he uses as a desk. On it sits a book called “Telegraphy Self Taught: A Complete Manual of Instruction.” He has old suitcases, old strollers, old picket fences, old pictures he bought at garage sales.
The three brand-new Harley J. Earl trophies share space with those artifacts. The Firebirds that sit atop the trophies are made with rolled, extruded bronze that is then dipped in blue liquid that coats it in silver. The car, shockingly heavy, looks futuristic even though the late Harley J. Earl, GM’s head of design who also designed the Corvette, created it in 1954.
“I really wanted it to look like it was moving, like it was flying,” Lajba says. He pulls out his original, which is red and made of balsa wood. He gave it to his son as a toy, and he promptly broke the tail off.
That’s an echo from Lajba’s own childhood. His dad would thumb through an encyclopedia, find something that looked like fun to make, and they’d make it together out of clay and wood. In 1963, Lajba won first place in the Nebraska State Fair for sculpting a kangaroo and a mouse out of clay. He celebrated by smushing the clay back together and making something else.
He never envisioned sculpting as a career. Only in looking back does his boyhood hobby seem like the beginning of a thread that, as it unspooled, became his life. He dropped out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha and jumped around odd jobs for a few years — washing dishes for $1.62 an hour, working in a mailroom, and wondering what to do with himself.
He enrolled in sculpting classes at Creighton University and Bellevue University, from which he graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in sculpture. Suddenly he was passionate about learning for the sake of learning. That cranked the engine of the rest of his life. “It just opened me up to not be afraid of looking at the truth about things and discovering things,” he says. “That attitude carried me through my artwork, and it carried me through all of my classes — English, geology, speech, everything. It was like an energy. I had this thirst of wanting to know things and wanting to learn and wanting to be educated.”
After that intellectual awakening, his life story sounds like that of a race car driver: Talented nobody from nowhere gets a few breaks and crushes them when he does.
He made a sculpture of Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, a Medal of Honor winner who spent 42 years in the Army and Air Force. Someone at Mutual of Omaha — where Lajba had worked in the mailroom — saw the piece and liked it. Mutual of Omaha bought it and gave it to the Air Force Association, a private 501c3 that Doolittle helped found and served as its first president.
Comedian Bob Hope, a friend of Doolittle, saw it and liked it, too, and Lajba was hired to make a sculpture of Hope for Bob Hope Village in Florida. A board member for Bob Hope Village was close with NASCAR founder Bill France, and Lajba was hired to create a sculpture of France and his wife, Anne, and eventually Dale Earnhardt, Bill France Jr., Betty Jane France and the Harley J. Earl Trophy.
• • •
Lajba has hands like a lumberjack. They are gnarled, bent, thick. And yet he uses them like a jeweler, sanding and sculpting, refining, chasing perfection that he knows is impossible. He notices details and seeks them out because it is in details that “the truth about things” starts to emerge. Sometimes those details are literal, like the year of the lucky penny that Dale Earnhardt glued to the dashboard of his 1998 Daytona 500 winning car. Sometimes those details are intangible, like what it feels like to be with a person.
In crafting the statue of Bill France Jr., the son of NASCAR’s founder, Lajba’s biggest challenge was capturing France Jr.’s presence. Here Lajba chooses his words carefully. He was very fond of France Jr., NASCAR’s CEO from 1972 until 2000, and doesn’t want to say it the wrong way. But the sculptor in Nebraska knew about Bill France Jr. what every driver in North Carolina knew: He commanded a room, and when he talked, people listened.
NASCAR history pulsates with stories of big-time stars being called into France Jr.’s office, at which time they learned exactly who was in charge. The sport also overflows with stories like the one Lajba tells about stopping by to say thanks to France Jr. as he left Daytona one morning. Lajba planned to simply leave a message, but France Jr. walked out of a meeting to come out and shake Lajba’s hand and tell him goodbye, an act of class he still appreciates all these years later.
France Jr.’s mix of power and grace is an elusive combination to capture in a static medium, and to do so, Lajba immersed himself in the statue for more than a year. He thought about France Jr. while in his car, in his studio, everywhere.
France Jr.’s pose — his mouth slightly open, as if he was about to speak — illuminated a part of France that those who knew him recognized immediately. “It’s Bill Jr. It’s him,” then track president Joie Chitwood said at the 2012 unveiling. “I can almost hear the words coming out of his mouth when I see his expression.”
For the statue of Dale Earnhardt, Lajba flew from Omaha to North Carolina, then drove to Welcome, home of Richard Childress Racing headquarters. While there, he stuck his head inside the cockpit of Earnhardt’s 1998 Daytona 500 winning car. While awed to be near such an important piece of history, he pulled out a piece of dental impression material and pressed it against the dash to create a cast of the lucky penny that was glued there.
That’s how he knows that penny was a 1977.
• • •
The trophy is heavy to lift, it’s heavy to win, and it’s heavy to make. “There’s a great deal of pressure,” Lajba says. “I want it to be perfect. There’s a lot of people counting on me.”
He’s not just making it for NASCAR or the track or the driver or the owner. He’s making it for the whole sport — “for everybody who experiences the joy and power of NASCAR, the fun of NASCAR. It’s more than a trophy. It’s a celebration.”
He jokes that he mothers the trophies to death, and that’s a fitting analogy. This year, as every year, he raised them from before it was even a thing, when they were just a disconnected collection of materials. He oversaw (or did himself) the engraving, the carving, the screwing on of the wheels and more.
Finally, he finished them, covered them in plastic … and hoped like hell nothing happened to them.
He spent several hours on the last Monday in January packing the three trophies into custom-made crates for transport from Nebraska to Florida. A moving crew arrived — he uses them so much they’re on a first-name basis — put the crates in a truck and drove off.
He tried to let them go, like a parent sending a kid off to college.
But he didn’t. He can’t. He still feels responsible. He always does.
That starts to fade when the trophies arrive safely in Florida. That mothering instinct ends only when the race does, and a driver’s life is changed forever, a change made manifest when he lifts that trophy and struggles to hold it up under the weight of glory it has just attained.
Lajba has always watched that from home. He will attend the Daytona 500 for the first time this year, at which he’ll get an inside look at the life of his trophy that he’s never seen before.
He’ll watch when his trophy is awarded, at which point it will stop being his and become someone else’s … and not a moment too soon. He’ll do his best not to care when the trophy gets doused in Gatorade and beer and covered in confetti. He’ll smile knowing he played a small part in that raucous, exuberant, joyful, celebration.
And then he’ll head back to Omaha, unburdened, light, free of the weight of trying to meet the expectations of the entire sport.
Until it’s time to build the next one.
The Daytona 500 — the “Great American Race” — is more than just the NASCAR Cup Series season opener; it’s a showcase of motorsport history, drama and unforgettable moments.
As the 2025 race and the start of the NASCAR season approaches, we’re celebrating its legacy with a 25-day countdown, reliving the top moments that have defined this iconic event. From breathtaking photo finishes and trailblazers to stunning upsets and famed fisticuffs, these stories capture the essence of Daytona: where legends are made, dreams are realized and the thrill of competition reaches its peak.
Join us as we revisit the victories of legends like Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, alongside the heartbreaks, comebacks and acts of sportsmanship that have etched this race into the annals of sports history. Whether you’re a lifelong fan or new to NASCAR, each day promises a star-studded reminder of why the Daytona 500 stands as a pinnacle of speed and determination.
Buckle up and get ready to celebrate the magic of Daytona!
MORE: 2025 Daytona Speedweek schedule | Full 2025 schedule | Daytona 500 gear
1. The One That Finally Happened
🗓️ Date: 2/15/1998 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1998 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: Arguably the greatest moment in NASCAR history, period — the 1998 Daytona 500 stands as a monument to perseverance, redemption and the power of belief in oneself, with a twist of good fortune in the form of a lucky penny from a small child.
For Dale Earnhardt, this moment, No. 1 in our 25-day countdown, ended a winding, 20-year quest to conquer the “Great American Race.” It was a feat that had eluded him through 19 previous attempts marred by mechanical failures, late cautions and agonizing near-misses, witnessing one-hit wonders claim glory while this remained the sole unchecked box on his resume. On Feb. 15, 1998, Earnhardt dominated the field as he undeniably rode to the Daytona 500 crown, leading 107 of 200 laps in his iconic black No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and crossing the finish line under caution.
RELATED: Earnhardt through the years | All 76 of his wins
CBS announcer Mike Joy immortalized the moment: “Twenty years of trying, twenty years of frustration! Dale Earnhardt will come to the caution flag to win the Daytona 500!”
Earnhardt’s performance was a masterclass in control, fending off challenges from fierce competitors and champions Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon throughout the afternoon. The win shattered a 59-race winless streak and cemented his legacy as a transcendent figure in motorsports and beyond; the Victory Lane celebration became iconic as crew members from every team lined pit road to applaud him in an unprecedented display of collective respect. For a driver known as “The Intimidator,” the win transcended rivalry, symbolizing a triumph shared by the entire sport.
RELATED: Untold stories of Earnhardt’s ’98 win | The meaning of a penny
Going deeper, the race’s emotional core lay in a chance encounter with Wessa Miller, a six-year-old fan with spina bifida, who met Earnhardt through Make-A-Wish the day before the race. She gifted him a penny she’d rubbed for luck, insisting, “You’re gonna win the Daytona 500.” Earnhardt, deeply moved, glued the penny to his dashboard with crew chief Larry McReynolds’ help. After the win, he credited Wessa as his “angel,” and the penny remains preserved in his race-winning car at the Richard Childress Racing Museum to this day.
The race’s cultural impact was magnified by CBS’s live broadcast, which captured the raw emotion of crew members’ impromptu tribute, while the penny became a lifelong symbol of hope. For fans, it underscored the humanity behind Earnhardt’s steel resolve and “Intimidator” persona that drove him to a record-tying seven NASCAR Cup Series championships. Though tragically killed at Daytona three years later, Earnhardt’s 1998 triumph endures as a testament to resilience, luck and the unyielding pursuit of glory.
And that’s exactly what Daytona’s all about. | Photos: ‘The Intimidator’ wins the Daytona 500
WATCH: From The Vault: Dale Earnhardt wins 1998 Daytona 500
2. The Fight
🗓️ Date: 2/18/1979 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1979 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The 1979 Daytona 500 fatefully became a cultural inflection point for NASCAR in a perfect storm — literally — of chaos and “Great American” carnage, merging live television’s raw power with a brawl that seared the sport into America’s consciousness forever.
For the first time in the race’s existence, CBS aired the race live from start to finish, flag to flag; a gamble that paid off when a historic snowstorm paralyzed the Northeast, trapping millions indoors and funneling record viewership to Daytona’s drama as one of NASCAR’s most notorious finishes unfolded.
Richard Petty clinched his sixth Daytona 500 victory after leaders Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison wrecked each other on the final lap, and a post-crash fistfight between Yarborough and the Allison brothers in front of CBS cameras and its 16 million viewers captivated a nation on a snowy Sunday. This collision of spectacle and serendipity transformed NASCAR from a regional curiosity into a national phenomenon almost in the blink of an eye.
MORE: Yarborough through the years | Donnie Allison’s career in photos
The race’s climax unfolded with cinematic tension.
Yarborough, trailing Donnie Allison by inches, attempted a slingshot pass on the backstretch, only for both cars to collide, spin into the wall, and skid into the infield. As Petty surged past to claim victory, Yarborough stormed toward Bobby Allison — who’d stopped to check on his brother — and swung his helmet through Bobby’s car window, igniting a further muddy, helmet-swinging brawl.
CBS announcer Ken Squier’s iconic call — “And there’s a fight!” — captured the chaos live, embedding images of furious drivers and bloodied faces into pop culture for decades to come. For viewers unaccustomed to NASCAR’s visceral rivalries, the unscripted drama was irresistible: a primal clash of ego and adrenaline in the sport’s biggest race. What’s not to love?
MORE: How Yarborough, ’79 Daytona 500 made a fan for life | Current-day drivers react to iconic fight
Legacy-wise, the 1979 Daytona 500 cemented NASCAR’s TV future and mythologized its rebel spirit, introducing it to a slew of new fans up north. The fight became a parallel for the sport’s unvarnished authenticity, a counterpoint to sanitized and over-officiated stick-and-ball sports. CBS’s gamble validated flag-to-flag broadcasts, paving the way for NASCAR’s 1990s boom and future billion-dollar broadcast deals. Meanwhile, the Allison-Yarborough feud entered lore as a symbol of racing’s emotional stakes; a moment where passion overruled polish.
And it was a great thing. | Read more: How ’79 Daytona 500 put NASCAR on the map
WATCH: Relive Ken Squier’s iconic call of the 1979 Daytona 500
3. The Battle of all Battles
🗓️ Date: 2/17/1976 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1976 Daytona 500
📝 Notes: The 1976 Daytona 500 stands as one of NASCAR’s most electrifying moments; a visceral clash between two titans of the sport in Richard Petty and David Pearson that, quite simply, redefined racing drama.
Entering the final lap, the two NASCAR Hall of Famers were locked in a duel that transcended rivalry — the actual disdain for each other was tangible. Petty, seeking a record sixth Daytona 500 win, led Pearson’s Wood Brothers Mercury by inches until Turn 3, where Pearson executed a daring slingshot pass. What followed was a split-second miscalculation that splintered into mayhem: Petty’s Dodge clipped Pearson’s left front fender, sending both cars careening into the wall and spinning into the infield grass mere yards from the checkered flag. The crash, unfolding in a cloud of smoke and screeching metal, epitomized NASCAR’s high-stakes intensity in its greatest spectacle, blending raw skill with unpredictable chaos.
MORE: Petty through the years | Pearson’s career in photos
As Petty’s flooded engine stalled, Pearson — cool under pressure, true to his “Silver Fox” nickname — feathered his clutch to keep the Mercury’s engine just alive enough. With his car crumpled and hood mangled, Pearson limped across the line at a crawl, securing his first Daytona 500 victory in his 15th attempt. Petty, meanwhile, watched helplessly as crew members illegally pushed his car forward, a futile effort that underscored the desperation of the moment. The finish, captured live on ABC amid interruptions of Winter Olympics coverage, became an instant classic, showcasing NASCAR’s capacity for theater even in wreckage.
For Pearson, the win validated his reputation as a tactician whose 105 career victories often fly under the radar despite being a three-time champion as well. For Petty, the loss became a footnote in a career defined by resilience, his eventual still-standing record seventh Daytona 500 coming not long after later cementing his “King” status.
Decades later, the 1976 chaotic finish remains a benchmark for NASCAR’s golden era. The mutual respect (?) between Petty and Pearson elevated their clashes into something mythic, helping to elevate the sport’s profile in the process of putting down arguably the greatest final lap in history.| Read more: Present, future collide in historic ’76 Daytona 500
WATCH: Mark Martin witnessed ‘most awesome thing’ as young fan at 1976 Daytona 500
4. The First One
🗓️ Date: 2/22/1959 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: 1959 Daytona 500
📝 Notes: The 1959 Daytona 500 stands as a cornerstone of NASCAR lore, sparking an annual American tradition while simultaneously going down as one of the most controversial finishes in racing history.
When Lee Petty’s Oldsmobile and Johnny Beauchamp’s Ford Thunderbird crossed the finish line three-wide with lapped driver Joe Weatherly to conclude the inaugural Daytona 500, officials faced an unprecedented dilemma — in short, what was the conclusion?
Our current-day photo-finish technology, obviously, was far from existence, and Beauchamp was initially declared victor. A celebration in Victory Lane followed, with trophies, beauty queens and the whole gamut. But Petty’s vehement protests — bolstered by photographer T. Taylor Warren’s film showing his Oldsmobile two feet ahead at the line — triggered a 73-hour review to determine the rightful winner. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., also leveraging Hearst newsreel footage, reversed the call on February 25 to cement Petty’s place as the race’s first champion and ignite debates that persist today.
This chaotic conclusion mirrored the race’s high stakes — the first “Great American Race” also marked the debut of Daytona International Speedway, a $3 million marvel replacing the beach course and designed to propel stock car racing into the modern era.
MORE: Complete Daytona 500 winner history, 1959-2024
Warren’s photograph became a relic of racing lore, displayed today in the NASCAR Hall of Fame alongside Petty’s trophy and helmet. The $53,050 purse, with Petty earning $19,050, underscored the event’s financial heft, while the caution-free race — a major rarity at the time — highlighted the track’s smooth design in its debut. Yet the outcome haunted Beauchamp, who never won a Cup race and faded into obscurity, his legacy overshadowed by Petty’s dynasty.
For NASCAR, the 1959 race was a masterstroke of reinvention. The speedway’s 31-degree banks and 2.5-mile tri-oval redefined speed, attracting more than 40,000 fans and establishing Daytona as the sport’s spiritual home. Petty’s victory launched his family into racing royalty, paving the way for his son Richard’s record seven Daytona 500 wins. Meanwhile, the photo-finish drama became a marketing boon, amplifying NASCAR’s national profile during a pivotal expansion era.
France’s gamble — building a “motorsports stadium” on Florida swampland — paid dividends, as both the race and track have only continued to gain in national prowess in the decades since. The speedway itself, now a $400 million renovated colossus, stands as a monument to France’s vision and a reminder of how far this race has come. | MORE: Photo finishes, a picture-perfect snapshot of NASCAR’s beauty
WATCH: The full story behind the 1959 Daytona 500 photo finish
5. The Closest One
🗓️ Date: 2/21/2016 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 2016 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The 2016 Daytona 500 marked, literally from start to finish, a watershed moment for NASCAR, blending the sport’s most iconic race with a transformative venue overhaul and making history in the process. Denny Hamlin’s victory over Martin Truex Jr. by a razor-thin, 0.010-second margin — the closest finish in Daytona 500 history — captured the relentless drama of stock car racing on a proud and prosperous day for the superspeedway.
As the two future NASCAR Hall of Famers drag-raced to the checkered flag, their Toyotas nearly touching, this get-on-your-feet climax was amplified by its timing, as the first Daytona 500 held after the completion of the years-long, $400 million Daytona Rising renovation. The project was a reimagination of the speedway as a modern “motorsports stadium” and the largest undertaking the track had started since its opening in 1959. The collision of record-breaking action and cutting-edge infrastructure cemented the 2016 race as a defining chapter in NASCAR lore.
RELATED: Hamlin through the years
The Daytona Rising project revolutionized the fan experience, aligning the venue’s grandeur with its storied legacy. The renovation introduced a plethora of wider seats, tripled concession stands, doubled restrooms, and added five sleek entrances (“injectors”) with escalators and elevators to sprawling concourses. Social hubs dubbed “neighborhoods” and trackside luxury suites catered to both casual viewers and corporate guests, while upgraded Wi-Fi and fiber-optic connectivity ensured the speedway met 21st-century demands. It became everything a modern sports venue could be — and so much more.
These enhancements weren’t merely cosmetic, either; they prioritized comfort and accessibility, a strategic move as NASCAR sought to retain its core audience while attracting new fans. The 2016 race became a showcase for this vision, blending the sport’s gritty roots with polished modernity.
The race itself unfolded like a cinematic narrative, underscoring Daytona’s renewed status as a motorsports mecca. After a chaotic final lap, Hamlin executed a daring block on Kevin Harvick, surged past Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and past 500 winner Matt Kenseth and edged Truex in a literal photo finish. That the electrifying conclusion played out against the backdrop of the speedway’s gleaming new frontstretch grandstand was just the cherry on top of a finish that still gets talked about today.
MORE: Hamlin’s ’16 car evokes memories from his living room
Hamlin’s victory launched him into elite company, earning his first Daytona 500 crown in a career-defining performance; arguably checking the second-to-last remaining box in his illustrious career. | Hamlin wins 2016 Daytona 500 by a nose
WATCH: How Kenseth lost the 2016 Daytona 500 and gave us the closest 500 finish ever
6. The Photo Finish
🗓️ Date: 2/18/2007 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 2007 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The 2007 Daytona 500 produced one of the most electrifying finishes in racing history, seeing Kevin Harvick edge Mark Martin by 0.020 seconds in a mad dash to the line while carnage erupted behind them. As the field roared through the final turn, Martin’s No. 01 Chevrolet led Harvick’s No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevy by just under two car lengths, setting up a dramatic drag race to the checkered flag that resulted in one of the closest finishes in the race’s history and created an instant NASCAR classic.
The finish unfolded in spectacular fashion as Harvick used a push from Matt Kenseth to surge alongside the NASCAR Hall of Famer Martin — a part-time Cup Series entrant in 2007 — coming off Turn 4. As the leaders charged toward the finish line, contact between Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon triggered a massive crash that sent Clint Bowyer’s car sliding on its roof in a trail of sparks. NASCAR officials let the race continue as Harvick and Martin drag-raced to the line, with Harvick’s momentum carrying him to victory by mere inches while a furious fracas enveloped the field.
RELATED: Harvick through the years | Martin’s career in photos
The win carried special significance for both drivers — Harvick earned his first Daytona 500 victory while denying the 48-year-old Martin what would have been a storybook triumph in NASCAR’s biggest race for one of the sport’s most popular figures. Martin, who had come out of semi-retirement to drive for the underdog Ginn Racing team, showed remarkable grace in defeat.
This breathtaking conclusion perfectly embodied everything that makes the Daytona 500 special — side-by-side racing, last-lap drama and a finish so close you couldn’t tell who won at first. The image of Harvick and Martin drag-racing to the line while cars wrecked wildly behind them became one of NASCAR’s most iconic moments, proving why the “Great American Race” consistently delivers some of motorsports’ most unforgettable finishes and spectacular scenery. | Ten years later: Harvick recalls Daytona 500 victory
WATCH: From The Vault: Harvick’s last lap from the 2007 Daytona 500
7. The Father-Son Finish
🗓️ Date: 2/14/1988 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1988 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The 1988 Daytona 500 marked a pivotal moment in NASCAR history as 50-year-old Bobby Allison held off his son Davey in the first-ever restrictor plate race at Daytona, creating the only father-son, one-two finish in the event’s storied history. The race represented a new era in NASCAR, with speeds reduced by approximately 16 mph after Ken Schrader’s pole-winning speed of 193.823 mph reflected the impact of the newly mandated restrictor plates.
Bobby Allison masterfully worked the draft throughout the 200-lap event, leading 70 laps and being the car to beat all afternoon. The veteran’s experience proved crucial in the closing stages as he took the lead for the final time with 18 laps remaining and maintained perfect position while his son Davey, who had led only Laps 162 and 163, waited in second place for an opportunity to strike. As they took the white flag, Bobby held a two-car-length advantage that would prove insurmountable despite Davey’s last-corner charge through Turns 3 and 4 as father and son battled for a “Great American Race” crown.
The victory carried profound significance beyond the typical celebration. At age 50, Bobby became the oldest driver to win the Daytona 500 — a record that has stood three-plus decades and no threat on the horizon — while also earning the distinction of being the first driver to win the race both with and without restrictor plates. The win would prove to be the 85th and final victory of Bobby’s illustrious career as a devastating crash at Pocono later that season took him out of the driver’s seat from that point and, unfortunately, the memories from the Daytona celebration along with it after sustaining a head injury.
RELATED: Bobby Allison, 1937-2024 | Bobby Allison through the years
This watershed moment represented both an ending and a beginning — the conclusion of NASCAR’s unrestricted era and the dawn of a new age of restricted racing designed to keep speeds under 200 mph. Victory Lane photos of Bobby pouring beer on his son’s head became especially poignant given the elder Allison’s subsequent memory loss — along with Davey’s own premature death a few years later — preserving forever the pure joy of NASCAR’s greatest father-son moment. | ‘What a thrill’: ’88 Daytona 500 remains heartfelt father-son moment
WATCH: Ken Squier calls Bobby Allison’s 1988 Daytona 500 win
8. The Miracle at Daytona
🗓️ Date: 2/24/1963 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1963 Daytona 500
📝 Notes: The 1963 Daytona 500 delivered one of motorsports’ greatest fairy tales when DeWayne “Tiny” Lund, a 6 feet 5, 270-pound journeyman driver, captured NASCAR’s biggest prize just days after a heroic rescue.
Ten days before the race, Lund was pulling through the Daytona tunnel when he spotted Marvin Panch’s experimental Ford Maserati upside down and ablaze after a violent crash. Without hesitation, Lund and several others lifted the burning wreckage so he could pull Panch to safety, earning him the Carnegie Medal for heroism — and the opportunity of a lifetime.
From his hospital bed, the injured Panch insisted the Wood Brothers give his ride to Lund, who had arrived at Speedweeks, as legend would have it, with just 17 cents in his pocket and no ride. The team agreed, putting Lund in its potent No. 21 Ford despite his being winless in 131 previous NASCAR starts. Crew chief Leonard Wood devised a brilliant strategy — they would attempt to run the entire 500 miles on one set of tires and one fewer pit stop than their competitors.
MORE: Wood Brothers’ most iconic victories
The plan seemed doomed when race day brought rain, but this actually worked in their favor. The first 10 laps were run under caution to dry the track, helping Lund’s fuel strategy. As the race unfolded, Lund masterfully drafted off faster cars to save fuel. In the closing laps, both Fred Lorenzen and Ned Jarrett passed Lund but had to pit for fuel, while Lund’s car sputtered across the finish line on fumes to secure an improbable victory.
This triumph represented far more than just another Daytona 500 — it was a testament to karma, strategy and human courage. Lund won four more Cup races in his career before his tragic death at Talladega in 1975, but nothing would match the magic of that February day when a selfless act of heroism led to one of NASCAR’s greatest Cinderella stories. The victory marked the Wood Brothers’ first Daytona 500 win and proved that sometimes the most incredible stories in sports are the ones that couldn’t be scripted.
Editor’s note: ‘Miracle at Daytona — The Tiny Lund Story’ aired in 2017.
WATCH: ‘Miracle at Daytona – The Tiny Lund Story’ promo
9. The Emotional One
🗓️ Date: 2/15/2004 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 2004 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The 2004 Daytona 500 delivered one of NASCAR’s most emotionally charged moments when Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured his first victory in the “Great American Race,” just three years following both the death of his father in the same race and the September 11 tragedies, with President George W. Bush actually in attendance after serving as grand marshal. On the track that took his father — certainly on his mind as he rounded Turn 4 coming to the checkered flag — Junior masterfully piloted his No. 8 Chevrolet through the field all afternoon, showcasing the superspeedway prowess that had become an Earnhardt family trademark.
Notably, Junior’s win was also six years to the day of his father’s lone Daytona 500 win, after 20 years of trying.
The race reached its dramatic peak in the closing laps when Earnhardt Jr., displaying both patience and precision, found himself battling fellow Hall of Famer Tony Stewart for the lead. With the two strongest cars on track slicing and dicing, Junior timed his final move perfectly, executing a decisive side draft before breaking away from Stewart’s challenge. Once in front with 20 laps remaining, Earnhardt’s superior car performance with his No. 8 DEI Chevrolet ensured “Smoke” or anybody else could not mount a serious challenge to his position.
MORE: Was Junior’s 2004 Speedweeks the best ever? | Dale Jr.’s 500 history
The victory carried profound significance beyond the typical celebration. Unlike his emotional July 2001 win at the same track, which came just months after his father’s death, this triumph allowed Junior to experience pure, unbridled joy at Daytona on the sport’s grandest stage. As he crossed the finish line, Earnhardt Jr. was overcome not just with elation but with relief, finally able to celebrate a Daytona 500 victory without the shadow of tragedy.
This watershed moment allowed for a sense of healing for both the Earnhardt family and NASCAR Nation, and it was evident in Dale Jr. himself. 2004 proved to be his best season in a near-20-year Cup Series career, turning in six wins and a fifth-place standings finish. | Read more
WATCH: Relive Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 2004 Daytona 500 victory
10. The Drafting One
🗓️ Date: 2/14/1960 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1960 Daytona 500
📝 Notes: The 1960 Daytona 500 revolutionized stock car racing when Junior Johnson, the “Last American Hero” and former moonshine runner from the hills of North Carolina, discovered and perfected the art of stock-car drafting to capture an unlikely victory — in the largest field (68 drivers) in Daytona history.
Driving an underpowered 1959 Chevrolet against the dominant Pontiac teams of drivers such as NASCAR Hall of Famers Cotton Owens and Fireball Roberts, Johnson realized he could tuck his car behind the faster machines, getting pulled along in their aerodynamic wake before slingshotting past them at crucial moments.
The race became a masterclass in Johnson’s innovative technique as he methodically worked his way through the field despite his ride’s “get-up-and-go” disadvantage. With a tangible horsepower deficit to the factory-backed Pontiacs, among others, his Chevrolet stayed competitive by utilizing the draft and proving that technique can sometimes outweigh pure drive. Johnson found that by positioning his car inches from another vehicle’s rear bumper, he could gain a noticeable speed increase on the straightaways, negating his power hole — while preserving his engine.
MORE: Junior Johnson through the years
As the laps wound down, Johnson’s strategy paid off when race leader Bobby Johns’ rear window popped out with nine laps remaining, forcing him to pit. Johnson inherited the lead and held off the remaining challengers to claim what would be his only Daytona 500 victory. His average speed of 124.740 mph was a new race record, achieved not through superior horsepower but through tactical innovation. It allowed the Hall of Famer to stretch his lead to a whopping 23 seconds by the time he took the checkered flag, too.
This watershed moment transformed NASCAR racing forever. Johnson’s discovery of drafting changed the fundamental approach to superspeedway racing, introducing a strategic element that remains crucial even in today’s modern racing. Johnson’s long-term impact on the sport has proven immeasurable, turning aerodynamic disadvantage into an advantage, illustrating one of the beauties of NASCAR that remains today — where innovation and cunning can triumph over raw power in a sport so reliant on physics and engineering.
The 1960 race stands as the moment NASCAR evolved from pure horsepower contests into the strategic, high-speed chess matches we know and love today, one of several major contributions an indelible NASCAR character left to the sport. | Junior Johnson: 1931-2019
MORE: Yarborough, Johnson talk shop | Johnson’s full NASCAR Hall of Fame speech
11. The Even Younger One
🗓️ Date: 2/20/2011 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 2011 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The 2011 Daytona 500 produced NASCAR’s most improbable victory when Trevor Bayne, just one day after his 20th birthday, shocked the motorsports world by winning the “Great American Race” in just his second Cup Series start.
Driving the iconic No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing, Bayne masterfully navigated through a record 74 lead changes and 16 cautions that eliminated many of NASCAR’s biggest stars, including a devastating 14-car wreck that collected several Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets.
Despite his inexperience, Bayne showed veteran poise during late-race chaos when David Ragan was black-flagged for changing lanes before the start/finish line on the first green-white-checkered attempt. Bayne inherited a spot on the front row and, despite having champions like Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart behind him, never flinched during the final two-lap shootout.
RELATED: Wood Brothers through the years
The magnitude of the upset was staggering — Bayne became the youngest Daytona 500 winner ever, breaking Jeff Gordon’s record by five years. The victory delivered Wood Brothers Racing its fifth Daytona 500 trophy and first since David Pearson’s triumph in 1976, earning the underdog team a stunning $1.46 million payday.
The win transcended typical racing story lines as the fresh-faced Tennessee native — who still admitted his favorite TV show was Nickelodeon’s “Rugrats” — captured America’s attention. Bayne admitted he didn’t even know the way to Victory Lane, creating an endearing moment that perfectly captured the pure joy of NASCAR’s newest and most improbable Daytona 500 champion.
The victory marked a fairytale beginning that would stand as Bayne’s only Cup Series win in a 187-race career, making it even more legendary as the day David truly slayed a field of Goliaths. | Read more
WATCH: Stunner! Relive Trevor Bayne’s upset for the ages
12. The Prodigal Son
🗓️ Date: 2/23/2014 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 2014 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The 2014 Daytona 500 delivered one of NASCAR’s most significant modern moments when Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured his second victory in the “Great American Race” after a marathon day that included a record six-hour, 22-minute rain delay. Starting from the ninth position, Earnhardt masterfully piloted his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet through multiple crashes and challenging weather conditions, leading 54 laps en route to a dramatic victory that rejuvenated both his career and helped ignite NASCAR’s digital presence.
A battle for track position all evening eventually resulted in Earnhardt — always a superspeedway maven – working with teammate Jeff Gordon before perfectly blocking a last-gasp charge from Denny Hamlin to secure the emotional victory … and change social media forever.
RELATED: Dale Jr.’s Daytona 500 history | Earnhardt Jr. through the years
The win’s significance, a decade removed from his only other Daytona 500 victory and at a time when many were questioning if the ship had sailed on Earnhardt’s career, extended far beyond the race track.
All of a sudden, at 2:32 a.m. ET, the long-registered but until then dormant @DaleJr account on Twitter (now X) was finally fired up and utilized — and in spectacular fashion. Earnhardt’s first tweet, featuring the uber-popular driver cheesing hard while casually hanging out with the Harley J. Earl Trophy, launched a social media revolution in NASCAR and completely reinvigorated the North Carolina native’s engagement level with the sport. It was perfectly timed, as Earnhardt went on to turn in four victories that year – the most he’d had since 2004 — as he became a legitimate title contender once again.
Tonight seemed like as good a night as any to join Twitter. How is everyone doin? #2XDaytona500Champ pic.twitter.com/4k4JVA7fG9
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) February 24, 2014
Earnhardt then hastily received a crash course in Twitter from his PR team, marking the beginning of his transformation from an introverted driver who often shied away from revealing too much of his inner workings to arguably NASCAR’s most affable character over the past decade.
The victory represented more than just a second Daytona 500 trophy — it marked the complete resurrection of Dale Jr.’s career and popularity. After years of struggling to meet enormous expectations, Earnhardt’s triumphant performance, capped by his enthusiastic declaration, “We’re going to burn this thing down!” in Victory Lane, reignited his connection with fans and launched him into a new era of success both on and off the track, as we’ve seen with his broadcasting and podcast careers.
The win, combined with his embrace of social media, helped modernize NASCAR’s approach to fan engagement while cementing Earnhardt’s legacy as both a superspeedway master and the sport’s most influential personality. | MORE: How 2014 Daytona 500 took Dale Jr’s stardom to next level
WATCH: From the Vault: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 2014 Daytona 500 win
13. The Upset
🗓️ Date: 2/19/1990 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1990 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The 1990 Daytona 500 delivered motorsports’ ultimate instance of David versus Goliath when journeyman driver Derrike Cope shocked the racing world by defeating Dale Earnhardt in the final mile in arguably the greatest upset in the sport’s history. “The Intimidator” had thoroughly dominated the day in his menacing black No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, leading 155 of 200 laps and building a commanding half-lap lead that evaporated in the blink of an eye.
Adding to the day’s unique atmosphere were camera crews for Paramount Pictures’ upcoming film “Days of Thunder,” capturing live racing footage, with two additional cars painted to match movie characters Cole Trickle and Rowdy Burns out on the track at times as well.
The drama reached its crescendo when Earnhardt — riding a lengthy and notable Daytona 500 drought at this point — rounded Turn 3 on the final lap and started having a right rear tire go down. Cope, piloting his white and blue Purolator Chevrolet prepared by an underfunded Whitcomb Brothers Racing team, made a split-second decision to dive left and avoid the dwindling champion before charging ahead to an improbable victory. The moment was so unexpected that when Cope took the checkered flag ahead of Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott, he had to ask his crew where to find Victory Lane.
MORE: Cope career stats
The magnitude of the upset cannot be overstated.
Cope’s team operated on a shoestring budget compared to Earnhardt’s ride at RCR, and his career statistics entering the race included zero wins or top fives and only six top 10s in 71 starts. Earnhardt, meanwhile, was at this point a four-time Cup champion with 42 career wins.
This perfect storm of circumstances — the underdog victory, Hollywood’s presence and Earnhardt’s heartbreak — created what many consider as NASCAR’s biggest shocker. The 1990 Daytona 500 proved that in racing, no victory is certain until the checkered flag waves, while simultaneously delivering a Cinderella story that even Hollywood couldn’t script — but, with a front-row seat, probably got some ideas from. | MORE: Where are they now? Catch up with Cope
14. The “Dale and Dale Show”
🗓️ Date: 2/14/1993 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1993 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The battle for the 1993 Daytona 500 win led to one of NASCAR’s most electrifying broadcasts when CBS commentator Ned Jarrett took off his analyst hat to become a father, calling his son and fellow future NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett to victory over Dale Earnhardt in a heart-pounding, last-lap duel. The dramatic finish, forever known as the “Dale and Dale Show,” saw the younger Jarrett pilot his Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet past Earnhardt’s intimidating black No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, marking both his first Daytona 500 victory and the first Cup Series win for former NFL coach Joe Gibbs’ fledgling team.
As the checkered flag waved, Ned Jarrett’s voice cracked with emotion as he guided viewers through his son’s pursuit of glory: “Dale’s gonna make it! Dale Jarrett’s gonna win the Daytona 500!” The raw emotion in Ned’s voice, temporarily abandoning journalistic neutrality for fatherly pride, created one of the most memorable broadcasting moments in NASCAR history. His passionate call perfectly captured the human element that makes auto racing special.
RELATED: Dale Jarrett’s top career moments
The victory was bittersweet for NASCAR fans at large as it came against the ultra-popular Earnhardt, still chasing his own elusive first Daytona 500 win and not too far removed from another heartbreaker in 1990. Jarrett’s perfectly timed move on the final lap, diving low through Turns 3 and 4 showcased both his racing acumen and the power of his Jimmy Makar-prepared race car. The win also validated Joe Gibbs’ decision to leave his successful NFL coaching career and venture into NASCAR, laying the foundation for what would become one of the sport’s most successful teams by winning NASCAR’s biggest race.
This watershed moment in NASCAR history combined multiple compelling storylines culminating in one frenzied finish — a father calling his son’s biggest victory, a new team’s breakthrough win and the continued frustration of the sport’s biggest star at Daytona. The “Dale and Dale Show” remains one of racing’s most replayed finishes, not just for the on-track action, but for Ned Jarrett’s unforgettable call that turned a great race into an iconic moment in sports broadcasting history. | NASCAR in 1993: Story lines, key moments
RELATED: First wins at Joe Gibbs Racing
15. The Record Setter
🗓️ Date: 2/15/1981 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1981 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: On a sun-drenched February afternoon in 1981, Richard Petty reminded the NASCAR fiefdom of his status as “The King” by capturing an unprecedented — and, to this day, unmatched — seventh Daytona 500 victory. Behind the wheel of his iconic STP Pontiac, Petty capitalized on a late-race miscalculation by Bobby Allison, who ran low on fuel and had to conserve in the closing laps, to claim what would become his final triumph in the “Great American Race.”
The victory was a masterclass in Petty’s trademark patience and racing intelligence. After qualifying eighth, he methodically worked his way through the field, avoiding the numerous accidents that eliminated several contenders. The race’s complexion changed dramatically when leader Buddy Baker, who had battled the leaders much of the day, suffered a mechanical issue at the front of the field with 38 laps remaining to set up an intense fuel-mileage battle between Petty and Allison.
RELATED: ‘The King’ through the years | All of Petty’s wins, one-by-one
As Allison’s car sputtered coming off Turn 2 with just three laps to go, Petty surged past to a thunderous roar from fans. The moment perfectly encapsulated Petty’s career-long ability to position himself to capitalize on others’ misfortune and be there when it counted. Crossing the finish line ahead of Bobby Allison’s slowed machine, Petty collected what would stand as the final jewel in his Daytona crown, a record of seven victories that still stands with no realistic threats on the horizon. | Shift: Petty’s first time at Daytona
MORE: Story behind Petty’s famously intricate autograph
WATCH: From The Vault: Petty wins the 1981 Daytona 500
16. The One with Super Mario
🗓️ Date: 2/26/1967 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1967 Daytona 500
📝 Notes: Open-wheel racing sensation Mario Andretti shocked the NASCAR world by capturing the 1967 Daytona 500 in dramatic fashion, sending shockwaves throughout the global racing community and adding to his legend.
Racing for the Ford-backed Holman-Moody team, the 26-year-old, Italian-born driver masterfully handled his blue No. 11 Fairlane, leading an impressive 112 of 200 laps despite starting from 12th.
The race featured an intense battle between Andretti and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion David Pearson, who swapped the lead several times over 100 laps in the middle portion of the race. When Pearson’s engine expired with 41 laps remaining, Andretti found himself dueling with teammate Fred Lorenzen in a controversial finish.
During the final pit stop, the Holman-Moody team deliberately held Andretti for several seconds to give Lorenzen an advantage, hoping their full-time NASCAR star would claim victory instead of the part-timer.
The tomfoolery only fueled Andretti’s determination.
After falling behind Lorenzen on Lap 164, it took the fired-up star just four laps to hunt down and re-pass his teammate. Andretti led the final 33 laps, becoming the first foreign-born driver to win NASCAR’s greatest race.
The victory stood as one of the most significant achievements of Andretti’s career to that point, aiding in firmly establishing himself as the motorsports icon he is today. Andretti’s mastery of NASCAR’s superspeedway spectacle — in just his seventh NASCAR start — demonstrated his exceptional versatility and cemented his legacy as one of racing’s most complete drivers.
The 1967 Daytona 500 victory was Andretti’s first and only NASCAR win, with just a handful more starts coming after it, making the moment even more legendary as the day “Super Mario” conquered stock car racing’s biggest stage.
It’s a remarkable triumph that remains one of the most significant crossover victories in motorsports history. | READ MORE
RELATED: Andretti congratulates Sanchez on Daytona win
WATCH: Witness history: Mario Andretti previews Daytona
17. “The Ickey Shuffle”
🗓️ Date: 2/19/1989 | Full race results
NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1989 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: After years of being one of NASCAR’s most polarizing figures, Darrell Waltrip’s quest for Daytona glory reached its pinnacle in 1989, and his Victory Lane moment endeared him to fans across the sport and laid the groundwork for victory celebrations for decades to come.
In his 17th attempt at the “Great American Race,” the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and Hall of Famer executed a brilliant fuel strategy, stretching his final tank an unprecedented 53 laps by putting on a fuel-saving clinic as top competitors Ken Schrader and Dale Earnhardt were forced to pit.
When Waltrip finally took the checkered flag to give Hendrick Motorsports its first Daytona 500 victory, raw emotion poured out in Victory Lane as “D-Dubya” grabbed CBS reporter Mike Joy and exclaimed, “I won the Daytona 500!”
But what followed would change NASCAR celebrations forever.
Inspired by Cincinnati Bengals fullback Ickey Woods’ famous touchdown dance that had swept the nation that NFL season, Waltrip spontaneously performed “The Ickey Shuffle” — stepping left, stepping right, before spiking his bright orange helmet into the ground. (Sound familiar?)
RELATED: Waltrip through the years
The celebration transformed NASCAR’s Victory Lane culture, marking the first time a driver had borrowed a celebration from another sport, and he certainly raised the bar on celebrations in general. Plus, what could have been seen as showboating was instead embraced as pure joy by a veteran driver who had finally achieved his dream, and DW was never viewed in the same light by fans. The moment helped change Waltrip’s image from controversial figure to beloved champion and eventually longtime popular TV booth broadcaster while connecting NASCAR to broader sports culture in a way few moments had before.
Decades later, fans still reference the “Ickey Waltrip Shuffle” as the moment NASCAR Victory Lane celebrations evolved from subdued to spectacular.
And in case you were wondering? He’s still got it.
MORE: Origin of ‘Boogity, boogity, boogity’ | Listen to the final ‘boogity’
WATCH: Darrell’s day: Remembering the 1989 Daytona 500
18. The Jet Dryer and The Tweet
🗓️ Date: 2/27/2012 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 2012 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The 2012 Daytona 500 transcended traditional motorsports narratives, becoming a surreal blend of chaos and digital innovation over 36 unforgettable hours. Persistent rain postponed the race for the first time in its 54-year history, pushing the start to Monday night under the bright lights of Daytona International Speedway in prime time.
On Lap 160, the world witnessed disaster strike when Juan Pablo Montoya’s Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet suffered a suspension failure under caution, sending his car hurtling into a jet dryer — loaded with fuel. The collision triggered a massive explosion, engulfing Turn 3 in flames and forcing a red flag for more than two hours as safety crews battled the fire and worked to repair the track.
(Side note: Montoya was OK and even came back to make a Cup Series start last year.)
Amid the unprecedented delay, Brad Keselowski — still parked on the track, in his No. 2 Team Penske Dodge — used his iPhone to tweet a photo of the fiery scene from his car, gaining more than 135,000 followers in a handful of hours and showcasing the untapped potential of real-time fan engagement. Remarkably, he later won his first — and, to date, only — Cup Series championship that year.
Fire!
My view pic.twitter.com/RWn3xMn6— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) February 28, 2012
NASCAR’s decision to embrace this digital moment marked a turning point in social media strategy at large and with the sanctioning body as fans around the world saw this viral moment and followed updates of the race through tweets and live coverage when perhaps they otherwise would not have. “Daytona 500” trended globally, drawing attention far beyond the typical motorsports audience.
RELATED: @keselowski’s best tweets of 2010s | 2012 champ through the years
When the race finally resumed after midnight ET, Matt Kenseth capitalized on the chaotic night, holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle in a green-white-checkered finish to claim his second Daytona 500 victory. The checkered flag waved at 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, concluding a marathon event that captivated audiences with its blend of disaster and drama.
The ’12 Daytona 500 redefined NASCAR’s ability to adapt to modern challenges, both on and off the track. From Keselowski’s pioneering tweet to track workers cleaning up an unprecedented incident, the race proved that even amid chaos, NASCAR could deliver moments of innovation and unforgettable spectacle, making it one of the most significant Daytona 500s of the 21st century. | MORE: Race Rewind: 2012 Daytona 500
19. The One That Had Everything
🗓️ Date: 2/16/1992 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1992 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: The 1992 Daytona 500 captured a pivotal moment in NASCAR history, blending triumph, legacy and transition.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Davey Allison delivered a dominant performance in his No. 28 Texaco Havoline Ford, starting sixth and methodically taking control of the race in its second half. On Lap 92, a multicar crash eliminated top contenders Bill Elliott and Sterling Marlin, clearing the path for Allison to take command and shine the rest of the way. He led 95 of the final 100 laps, holding off fierce challenges from Morgan Shepherd and Geoff Bodine, showcasing both speed and tactical brilliance in his one and only victory in the “Great American Race.”
The win carried deep emotional weight, with Davey’s father and fellow Hall of Famer, Bobby Allison, still recovering from a career-ending crash in 1988, watching from the pit box. Their shared moment in Victory Lane became even more poignant after Davey’s untimely death just 17 months later, solidifying this race as a cornerstone of the Allison family legacy.
MORE: Davey Allison’s star still shines bright
Meanwhile, Richard Petty — as well as notable NASCAR moonlighter and racing icon A.J. Foyt — competed in his final Daytona 500, marking the end of a truly historic era. “The King” received a standing ovation from the packed grandstands, his farewell symbolizing NASCAR’s shift from its golden era to a more modern, competitive age. Conversely, it also marked the last Daytona 500 to not feature future three-time “Great American Race” winner Jeff Gordon … all the way until the 2016 running of the race, two and a half decades later.
The field also featured legends like Dale Earnhardt, still chasing his elusive Daytona 500 win, and Alan Kulwicki, who would later claim the 1992 championship before his own untimely death the following year. It was also the inaugural race for a future championship-winning organization in Joe Gibbs Racing, with Dale Jarrett taking the No. 18 Chevrolet (!) home in 36th.
This race represented a convergence of NASCAR’s past, present, and future. With Allison’s masterclass on the track and emotional Victory Lane moment, Petty’s farewell and the intense competition among the sport’s brightest stars, the ’92 Daytona 500 remains one of the most significant and emotional moments in NASCAR history.
RELATED: Allison through the years | Where ’19 Hall inductee ranks all-time
WATCH: From the Vault: Davey Allison wins 1992 Daytona 500
20. The Fastest One
🗓️ Date: 2/17/1980 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1980 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: Buddy Baker’s 1980 victory was a defining moment in NASCAR history, blending personal triumph with groundbreaking innovation. After 19 years of chasing victory in the “Great American Race,” Baker finally prevailed, piloting the iconic “Gray Ghost” No. 28 Oldsmobile to a record average speed of 177.602 mph — a benchmark for the fastest Daytona 500 ever, still unbroken more than four decades later.
The Ranier Racing team’s revolutionary car, featuring wind tunnel-tested aerodynamics and a sleek, silver-and-black paint scheme (a favorite of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s), was so dominant that NASCAR required reflective decals to make it more visible on track after protests from competitors.
MORE: Buddy Baker through the years
Much of the car’s speed was credited to legendary crew chief Waddell Wilson, whose engine expertise and strategic brilliance turned the ride into an unbeatable force. Baker’s mastery on the track was evident as he led 143 of 200 laps, fending off challenges from Bobby Allison and Dale Earnhardt. The Baker/Wilson pair was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2020.
The win carried added weight, given a slew of near-misses for the “Gentle Giant” at Daytona, including a heartbreaking engine failure while leading in 1973. Beyond personal redemption, Baker’s triumph ushered in an era where aerodynamics became as crucial as horsepower, reshaping how race cars were designed for decades to come. | Read more
21. The Pole Heard Round the World
🗓️ Date: 2/24/2013 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 2013 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: Danica Patrick’s performance in the 2013 Daytona 500 was a landmark moment in NASCAR history. Securing the pole position with a lap speed of 196.434 mph in her No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, she became the first woman to achieve this feat and lead the field to green in the sport’s premier race. Her precise handling throughout the race on Daytona’s high banks demonstrated her skill and composure under immense pressure. She continued to prove throughout her career that she presented a formidable challenge on superspeedways.
RELATED: Tony Stewart talks about Danica’s legacy
Throughout the 200-lap race, Patrick remained a consistent presence in the top 10, running as high as third after relinquishing the lead following her opening laps at the front. She paced a total of five laps under green flag conditions, becoming one of the few drivers in history to lead in both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, a race in which she also had six top 10s in nine starts. Patrick set the record for the highest finish by a woman in the race’s history, ultimately finishing eighth in a remarkable achievement in her first full-time Cup Series season.
Patrick’s performance stood out on NASCAR’s grandest stage as she competed with stock car racing’s best — a whopping 10 current or future Cup champions were in the 43-car field — earning praise from race winner Jimmie Johnson, who captured his second Harley J. Earl Trophy that day en route to his sixth Cup Series title later that season.
MORE: Patrick through the years | Johnson through the years
Beyond the track, her achievement continued to break down gender barriers in motorsport, inspiring a new generation of drivers and fans. While her NASCAR career spanned until 2018, her historic run at Daytona remains one of the sport’s defining moments, solidifying her legacy as a trailblazer in stock car circles and the sport as a whole. | Read more
RELATED: Patrick leaves NASCAR at peace
22. The Pioneer
🗓️ Date: 2/20/1977 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1977 Daytona 500
📝 Notes: Janet Guthrie made history at the 1977 Daytona 500, blazing a trail as the first woman to compete in NASCAR’s premier event. Starting from the 39th position in her Chevrolet Monte Carlo, she faced immediate challenges when mechanical issues, including a damaged oil pump belt, forced her into early pit stops. Despite these setbacks, Guthrie steadily advanced through the field of competitors, demonstrating exceptional skill alongside racing legends like Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough to ultimately finish in a solid 12th place.
RELATED: Janet Guthrie through the years
Her performance effectively silenced critics and earned respect from fellow drivers who had initially doubted her abilities. The achievement resonated beyond the race track, occurring during a decade of significant progress for women’s rights and opening doors for future female drivers in NASCAR. Guthrie’s partnership with team owner Lynda Ferreri marked a unique moment in NASCAR as well, with both women breaking barriers in their respective roles.
The impact of her Daytona 500 run continues to influence motorsport today, serving as a milestone in racing history at large. | Guthrie pioneered the fast lane more
MORE: Guthrie reflects on legendary career | Janet, Cale and the Loch Ness Monster
23. The Young One
🗓️ Date: 2/16/1997 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 1997 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: A fresh-faced, 25-year-old Jeff Gordon captured his first Daytona 500 victory in 1997, becoming the youngest winner of the “Great American Race” at the time — a record he would hold for a decade and a half until Trevor Bayne’s victory in 2011. The win held even more significance as Gordon led teammates Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven across the finish line, marking the first time any team had achieved a 1-2-3 finish in Daytona 500 history.
Adding emotional weight to the achievement, the Hendrick Motorsports sweep came during a period when team owner Rick Hendrick was battling a life-threatening case of chronic myelogenous leukemia.
RELATED: ‘Refuse to Lose’ on ’97 Daytona 500 | Gordon through the years
“On one hand, we were concerned and had heavy hearts thinking about (Hendrick) and wishing he was there but at the same time, we were using it as motivation to get it done,” Gordon said. “I think that was across the board for all of us. For Ricky, Terry and myself it was, ‘Let’s go get this done for Rick.'”
The victory helped establish Hendrick as NASCAR’s dominant force, with Ken Willis of the Daytona Beach News-Journal at the time comparing them to “the Yankees of the Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig era,” marking a pivotal, emotional moment in the sport’s history.
MORE: Relive Gordon’s 1997 Clash win | See all of Gordon’s wins
WATCH: From The Vault: Gordon wins 1997 Daytona 500
24. The Next Generation
🗓️ Date: 2/20/2022 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 2022 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: Putting a thrilling bow on NASCAR’s bold leap into a new era, 23-year-old rookie Austin Cindric piloted the Next Gen racer — a Team Penske Ford Mustang, in this case — to its first victory in the 2022 Daytona 500, edging Bubba Wallace by a mere .036 seconds in NASCAR Overtime.
The win stands as one of the sport’s more shocking, with Cindric becoming the first full-time rookie to win NASCAR’s most prestigious race — and doing it on team owner Roger Penske’s 85th birthday, to boot.
Cindric’s victory served as the perfect debut for NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which features the most innovative technical changes to the sport in decades. The race delivered everything NASCAR hoped for with its new vehicle, featuring 35 lead changes among 13 drivers and 104 green flag passes for the lead — the fifth-most since the creation of Loop Data statistics in 2007.
RELATED: Cindric through the years | Next Gen timeline: From testing to triumph
For Cindric, who had lost the Xfinity Series championship just months earlier, redemption came in the form of stock car racing’s most coveted trophy — the Harley J. Earl.
Also, his Discount Tire Ford Mustang now holds the distinction as the first Next Gen vehicle displayed on Glory Road at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, marking both the dawn of a new era in NASCAR technology and the arrival of its next generation of racing talent. | Read more
MORE: No. 2 on young career: ‘Feel like I’ve had three rookie seasons’
WATCH: Cindric ‘excited’ and ‘thankful’ after first Daytona 500 win
25. The Iconic Return
🗓️ Date: Feb. 18, 2018 | Full race results
🎥 NASCAR Classics: Watch the 2018 Daytona 500 in full
📝 Notes: With an eye-popping, 30-something wins at Daytona International Speedway across multiple NASCAR series and racing disciplines, Dale Earnhardt is synonymous with the famed, 2.5-mile superspeedway despite claiming just one Daytona 500 win in his legendary career. It had been nearly 20 years to the day, however, since the infamous No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet had found Victory Lane there in the Cup Series, save for a 1999 Duel win by “The Intimidator,” until Austin Dillon took the iconic entry across the finish line first in the 2018 “Great American Race.”
To give you even more tingles — Dillon, the grandson of team owner Richard Childress, actually celebrated with Earnhardt in Victory Lane for his win back in ’98 as a 7-year-old. And there was even another “lucky penny” riding in the No. 3 for this one like there was for Earnhardt’s, too.
RELATED: Dale Earnhardt’s 1998 win in photos | Untold Stories: ’98 Daytona 500
“This is so awesome to take the No. 3 car back to Victory Lane. This one is for Dale Earnhardt Sr. and all those (Dale) Sr. fans. I love you guys,” Dillon said after claiming the checkered flag. “We are going to keep kicking butt the rest of the year!” | Read more
MORE: Earnhardt’s win shaped Dillon brothers’ path | Dillon, crew ink up after 500
WATCH: Dillon emotional after taking home Daytona 500 title
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Gio Ruggiero was sitting 10th in the middle of the pack three-wide midway down the Daytona backstretch on the final lap. Half a lap later, Ruggiero finished second in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut.
Driving the No. 17 Toyota for Tricon Garage, the 18-year-old recovered from losing the lead late and avoided the carnage around him in the final mile of Friday’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway for a top-five finish in his inaugural truck start. Ruggiero was third on track when the yellow flag waved with the checkered, but Parker Kligerman’s No. 75 truck failed post-race inspection after measuring too low on both sides of the rear of the vehicle, bumping Corey Heim from runner-up to winner and Ruggiero into second place — a sudden 1-2 finish for Tricon Garage.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos
Ruggiero, the Seekonk, Mass., native, led 11 laps Friday but was shuffled from the top spot with five laps remaining. Bayley Currey surged the inside lane forward past Ruggiero before Ruggiero’s Tricon teammates Tanner Gray and Heim decided they needed to work past Ruggiero too. But through guidance from spotter Frankie Kimmel II, Ruggiero stayed in the game, missed multiple wrecks through the final set of corners and persevered.
“Stuff happens quick here, and I was leading that pack for a couple of laps,” Ruggiero said. “And I think five to go is when I lost the lead there. But I knew it was coming. I knew they were going to have lines forming up and it was going to get crazy. So I’m just glad we could hang on and have a strong finish and a clean truck there for the end.
“My spotter, Frankie Kimmel, this was my real first race with him other than our race last year, and I thought he did a great job helping me and coaching me tonight. I just dragged brake and tried to keep the guys behind me tucked up and pushing me.”
Tricon Garage owner David Gilliland was thrilled seeing the immediate results from one of his two full-time rookie drivers in Friday’s season opener — but he wasn’t surprised. Ruggiero’s background stems mainly from Late Model racing on his way through the racing ladder but moved to the stock car ranks in 2024 with 10 ARCA Menards Series starts.
“From the Rockingham test to him being around the shop, I’ve been super, super impressed with his demeanor and his attitude,” Gilliland told NASCAR.com. “Today, he impressed me, but really, 0% shocked at what he accomplished today. Really proud. He had a lot of adversity thrown at him today.”
Indeed, Ruggiero had a flat tire during his qualifying run Friday and subsequently had another flat early in Friday’s 100-lap contest.
“A lot of these young kids can come out here and go fast,” Gilliland said. “But to execute and put a whole race together … he never got panicked, never nothing. Just very, very proud of him. Very proud of our team. Tricon Garage executed very, very well as a team today. I was just talking to our guys — from our crew chiefs communicating to our drivers to spotters, everybody working together is tough. I was very proud of everybody at our team.”
Heim, a championship threat in each of the past two Truck Series campaigns, locked into the playoffs once again, this time via a win in the opening race. But on Friday, he couldn’t help but notice how well Ruggiero adapted to the unique challenge of superspeedway racing.
“For Gio’s first race, I think he did a great job,” Heim said. “There’s definitely a lot to work on in general, but I mean he’s fresh out of late models and a part-time ARCA schedule. I can’t expect him to be perfect. To be able to put himself in position at the end of the race is impressive, along with Tanner and William (Sawalich) as well. This is by far the best the organization has worked together which is pretty surprising because there’s a lot of rookies. But regardless, proud of Tricon Garage.”
Next is Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 22 (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where Ruggiero will attempt to go for a second straight top five to kick off his Truck Series career.
“It’s really good momentum headed into the year, and as well to Atlanta being another superspeedway next weekend,” Ruggiero said. “But, like my old super late model team owner Donnie Wilson used to tell me, (if) you finish in the top five, then the top threes will come. You finish in the top three, then the wins will come. So if we can keep building off this, we’ll get a win soon.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — When the caution flag flew on the final lap of Friday night’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway, Corey Heim thought he had finished second in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season opener.
Roughly an hour later, Heim was declared the winner of the superspeedway race after the No. 75 Chevrolet of apparent winner Parker Kligerman was disqualified when its ride height was measured too low in post-race inspection.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Daytona
Surging into the lead in the closing laps of Friday night’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway, Kligerman held the top spot on the final circuit when a multicar wreck in Turn 4 forced NASCAR to call the eighth caution of the evening.
But Kligerman’s victory celebration was short-lived when his truck failed inspection. The disqualification gave Heim his first victory at Daytona and the 12th of his career.
“Nothing short of crazy there the last 20 laps,” Heim said. “Honestly, pretty impressed with everyone that we kept it straight for as long as we did. They piled it up a little bit on the last lap. Compared to last year, it was such a big upgrade as far as the quality of racing.
“Definitely was out of control there at the end, being three-wide middle on old tires, being free.”
Heim was thankful for the victory but expressed sympathy for Kligerman’s misfortune.
“Well, it’s my first time having this kind of scenario happening either way, so certainly glad to be on the right side of it,” Heim said. “It sucks for Parker and those guys.
“It seemed like they put themselves in a position at the right time to win the race, but obviously, there is another level to it after the race. Grateful to be in the spot to take advantage of that.”
Kligerman’s disqualification promoted Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Gio Ruggiero to a runner-up finish in his Truck Series debut.
“This is my first time on a superspeedway in anything, so it was a lot of stuff for me to take in tonight,” said Ruggiero, who led 11 of the 100 laps. “Drafting in the pack, side-drafting and leading the pack as well, so I definitely learned a lot for Atlanta.”
MORE: Ruggiero soars to second in debut Truck race
Reigning series champion Ty Majeski was third, followed by Grant Enfinger, who recovered from significant damage to the rear of his No. 9 Chevrolet as well as a pit road speeding penalty.
“We made a lot of leaps today as a team,” Majeski said. “This has been a type of racing that has been outside of my comfort zone, so it was good to put some good stages together. We went from the back to the front multiple times, something that we’ve not been able to do in the past.
“I’m excited about that and I had fun out there for the first time in a speedway race. It’s a good way to start defending the championship and a good start to our 2025 season.”
Chandler Smith led a race-high 34 laps but was shuffled back in the late going and finished sixth behind Justin Haley. Pole winner Ben Rhodes led 22 circuits but came home 20th after suffering damage in a Lap 83 wreck that caused the seventh caution.
Actor-turned-full-time driver Frankie Muniz posted a career-best 10th-place finish in his fifth Truck Series start.
“It was intense,” Muniz said of the final two laps. “When I caught them (the lead pack in the draft), you saw everyone moving around, but I was still half throttle. I went to the top; I was trying to push the top, but then I went to the middle, and then the bottom had a run so I went there.
“And thankfully I did, because it helped us get through (the last-lap wreck). The thing about Daytona, I’m not calling it luck, but you don’t know what the right move is. I’m just so happy, especially after the year we had last year, when it felt like getting punched in the gut. I feel really good. I am just so ready for next week.”
Behind Smith, Daniel Hemric, Jason White, William Sawalich and Muniz completed the top 10. Cup Series driver Michael McDowell finished 26th in his first Truck Series start since 2009.
NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed in the Truck Series garage, confirming Heim as the winner. The No. 75 Chevrolet of Parker Kligerman was disqualified for not meeting post-race height requirements after the truck was too low in the rear. Henderson Motorsports, which fielded the entry, announced it plans to appeal the ruling.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Brad Keselowski arrived at Daytona’s Speedweeks festivities during a time of personal and professional growth. He revealed this week that his family is about to expand to a party of six, and the RFK Racing organization that he co-owns with Jack Roush has swelled to three full-time teams for this season.
It’s his trophy collection that also has room for expansion, and the coveted Daytona 500 title that’s eluded him in 15 previous tries is a missing piece to an already illustrious NASCAR Cup Series career.
“Well, for me, it’s the last crown jewel that I’m missing, so it’s kind of like the empty spot in the trophy case,” Keselowski said during a Friday roundtable with reporters. “It would certainly round out a lot of aspects of the stat book for me, but beyond that, it’s a huge win for our company to win the biggest race of the year, to lock ourselves in the playoffs early, to allow our team to continue to develop. We made a lot of changes to our team and to take some of those pressures of making the playoffs off of our shoulders very early on in the season would have some major ramifications. So I mean, there are so many aspects of why it would mean a lot to us. It’s hard to really define it.”
Keselowski makes his 16th try in Sunday’s “Great American Race” (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM), which kicks off his fourth season as driver/owner for RFK Racing. The organization will place three Fords on the grid for Sunday’s 500-miler for the second consecutive year, but this time, it’s a launch for three full-season efforts — for himself in the No. 6 Mustang, Chris Buescher in the No. 17 and newcomer Ryan Preece in the No. 60 entry.
RELATED: Daytona weekend schedule | Sunday’s starting lineup
Daytona also comes four days after Keselowski’s 41st birthday, an age mark that makes him the third-oldest full-time driver in the field (only Denny Hamlin, 44, and AJ Allmendinger, 43, are older). Barring an “iron man” style run into next-level veteran status, Keselowski likely has fewer Cup Series seasons ahead of him than behind him. But in forecasting when he could make a decision on retirement, the driver who burst into the rookie ranks in 2010 and became a champion two years later says he’ll know.
“When you don’t feel like you can win anymore; I feel like I can win,” Keselowski says. “I was having a great race yesterday (in the second Duel qualifier) until I wasn’t, but when you don’t feel you can make the moves it takes to succeed, that’s pretty clear to me. And I don’t feel that way.”
Keselowski says there’s no set time to make that call, but jokes that he’s not ruling out racing at age 50 or beyond. “I mean, if I keep having kids, I might need to,” he cracked. He backed up his belief in his capabilities when he scored his most recent Cup Series victory last spring at Darlington Raceway. Sharing that win — which broke a 110-race skid — with his family remains a moment he aims to replicate and relive.
“I have a lot of desire, as much if not more,” Keselowski said. “I have my family, my kids, and there’s a lot of this discourse around when a driver has kids that they lose some hunger and all this other stuff. Like to me, I feel like I’ve experienced the opposite. Like I want to win, and my daughter as we were coming down here, she said, ‘Dad, you haven’t won in a few months, I’d really like to be in Victory Lane.’ That gasses me up, right? Not that I wasn’t trying to win before, but you’re like, that last two laps on the radio, when it’s to put your kids in Victory Lane, that’s a little extra jazz, right?”
Finding that winning formula on superspeedways is a tricky dance, one that often waltzes to the beat of manufacturer allegiances and the subtleties of the aerodynamic draft. Keselowski has been a master of that task at sister track Talladega Superspeedway, where he has six triumphs, but his record here is more mixed — he’s failed to finish in nine of his previous 15 Daytona 500 appearances.
Keselowski will be coming from the back end of the grid Sunday, earning the 34th starting spot after a qualifying race crash forced him to a reserve No. 6 Ford. It’s a grab bag for his teammates, too — Buescher starts sixth and Preece will go off 27th after putting up the third-fastest lap in pole qualifying — but it’s a variety that’s underscored by Keselowski’s confidence.
“I think our cars look as good or better than anybody else. Really, really excited about that, really proud of it,” Keselowski says. “It’ll be interesting to see, the Toyotas have this way of showing a lot more speed on Sunday than they do throughout the whole weekend. So you never know exactly what they’re holding. They’re pretty good already, right? So I could see them kind of turning the wick up a little bit, and then the Chevrolets have done the best job consistently just with the nature of executing that last pit cycle and getting control of the race. They don’t seem to have the speed that everybody else has, but they seem to out-execute on a continuous basis.
“So it’s hard to predict what the race is going to value. The race might value having super-fast cars and might value being able to execute at a high level, or might value something I don’t have top of mind. So it’s a really difficult race to predict, but historically over the last season or two, it’s valued execution.”
Keselowski says the top challenge to RFK Racing’s expansion has been hiring the right people to support it. The other focus is to support Preece, a hard-nosed 34-year-old who came up through the Modified Tour ranks as a brilliant short-track talent but has had a journeyman’s career in NASCAR’s national circuits.
MORE: At-track photos: Daytona | Preseason Power Rankings
Preece has landed on his feet after the dissolution of the Stewart-Haas Racing team, and Keselowski says that providing him with the right equipment should also deliver him a boost in his new surroundings.
“Give him fast race cars, put him in a spot where he can play offense,” Keselowski says. “When you’re playing defense all the time, it’s so easy to get over your head. I think you see that commitment with the car, he’s got a great car this weekend, super fast, qualified third, the car drove great for him in the race. I think he’s very excited about that, and that’s so energizing to be able to look out the windshield rather than the mirror. Everybody’s a lot better driver when they’re looking up front than behind, and I think that’s the builder of confidence that he’s going to need, and being surrounded with those right people to go with it.”
Keselowski’s fingerprints are already indirectly on some of the accolades that have been handed out at Daytona International Speedway this week. The top two starters — pole winner Chase Briscoe and front-row flanker Austin Cindric — are both alumni from Brad Keselowski Racing, his namesake team that operated for 10 years (2008-17) in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Besides Briscoe and Cindric, the list of established Cup Series drivers with ties to the BKR days includes Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick — all of whom have become stars in NASCAR’s top division. It’s a source of measured pride for Keselowski as he reflects on his team’s legacy and as he stands just days away from potentially adding to his own.
“It just makes me feel like I should have turned it into a Cup team eight years ago. But you know, life lessons, right?” Keselowski says with a laugh. “But I’m happy for them and their success, and I try to be really careful because although I played a part in their success, I am not their success. They’ve done their own work and there’s other people that have come into their lives that have helped them be successful. I’m like one stepping stone on their journey, right? But it is great to see that it mattered, that it played out for them and that I could be a part of it. It’s meaningful, for sure.”
In a session shortened by rain, defending Daytona 500 winner William Byron topped the leaderboard in Friday evening’s NASCAR Cup Series practice at Daytona International Speedway. The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet set a quick time at 194.923 mph.
Chase Elliott (194.763 mph), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (194.678 mph), Kyle Busch (194.392 mph) and Austin Dillon (194.032 mph) rounded out the top five. All five Chevy drivers worked together in the draft.
RELATED: Practice results | At-track photos
Zane Smith (193.665 mph), Todd Gilliland (193.394 mph), Joey Logano (193.278 mph), Kyle Larson (193.245 mph) and Ryan Blaney (193.236 mph) completed the top 10.
During this practice session, teams and drivers had mixed agendas with some focusing on seeing how their cars handled in the draft, while others got important track time with backup cars or repaired cars from damage suffered in Thursday night’s Duel races.
Only 30 drivers set a lap time before weather halted the session prematurely with less than 20 minutes to go. Out of the eight drivers switching to backup cars following the Duels, Brad Keselowski, Justin Haley, Shane van Gisbergen and Daniel Suárez did not set a practice time on Friday.
Hélio Castroneves also joined Trackhouse Racing teammates van Gisbergen and Suárez in the garage during this session as his No. 91 team focused on repairing his primary car. Luckily, these teams will get one more shot to shake their cars down before Sunday.
MORE: Daytona Speedweeks schedule
The Cup Series will be back on track Saturday for the third and final Daytona 500 practice session at 3:05 p.m. ET (FS2, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — When Kaden Honeycutt stepped out of the Niece Motorsports hauler at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday morning, the warm Florida air was refreshing in more ways than one.
Honeycutt made the Speedweeks trek once before back in 2023, but it did not come with the guarantee of a full-time ride or a secured future in the industry. This time around, Honeycutt has an assured opportunity to pursue a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title behind the wheel of Niece’s No. 45 AutoVentive/Precision Chevrolet.
The path toward this moment in Honeycutt’s career was strenuous. With his funding a constant question mark, Honeycutt took any ride that was available at both the national and short track level to prove he was capable of being an efficient competitor.
Endless gambles and sacrifices have led Honeycutt back to Daytona with a future more coherent than ever before.
“I have a lot of confidence in this team,” Honeycutt said. “We expect to win races and we expect to go to Phoenix and fight for a championship. That’s all we want to do here at Niece, so I’m thankful for them choosing me to drive their [truck] this year and we’ll make sure to kick it off on the right foot at Daytona.”
Dedication is a vital part of Honeycutt’s modus operandi as a competitor. It was present when he started his career on the dirt tracks in his home state of Texas and has followed him across several different disciplines in motorsports.
Honeycutt has needed that vigilance in nearly every aspect of his grind toward the top. With other young competitors in his age group possessing far more resources than him, Honeycutt knew the best method to accomplish his goals was to keep racing, no matter the cost.
After a brief ARCA Menards Series East stint, Honeycutt regrouped and centered his efforts on short tracks in the southeast during the 2020s, competing in Late Model Stocks and Pro Late Models. As he started finding success, different organizations began realizing how much talent the Willow Park, Texas native possessed.
Honeycutt made their investments pay off. He guided MMI Racing to an ARCA Menards Series West owner’s championship after joining them for the final four races in 2023. The following year, Honeycutt earned a Pro Late Model title after making a late-season switch from Mavrick Page Motorsports to Bryson Lopez Racing.
All this occurred while Honeycutt stayed relentless to refine his race craft. In one instance, Honeycutt competed in four races across a two-day stretch between Phoenix Raceway and Caraway Speedway, located in Asheboro, North Carolina.
The result of the rigorous endeavor: one victory and no finishes outside the top 10.
Every victory, moral and tangible, culminated in what is currently Honeycutt’s crowning achievement as a driver at the end of 2024: his first Snowball Derby victory at Five Flags Speedway.
Besting Super Late Model stalwarts like Ty Majeski, Stephen Nasse and Bubba Pollard was not the only reason why winning the Snowball Derby was so special for Honeycutt. The jubilation also stemmed from his connection to the track and the car owners who took a chance on him during his early development.
“I’ve been going to Pensacola since I was 5 years old,” Honeycutt said. “I learned how to actually walk at Pensacola, and my mom has a video of that. It was really incredible [to win the Snowball Derby] Patt [Jett] and Larry [Blount]. I’ve known them for years, and that was the first time I got to drive one of their Super Late Models.
“It was emotional for everybody involved, and we worked extremely hard for it.”
The Snowball Derby triumph was one of several major achievements Honeycutt enjoyed in 2024. Along with that win and his Pro Late Model title, he also secured the deal to compete for Niece’s Truck Series program full-time in 2025.
Honeycutt was already well-ingrained into Niece’s culture, having worked for the organization since May 2023. During his time with the company, Honeycutt has fulfilled numerous roles around the shop while also amassing six top 10s in limited starts, including a career-best of fourth twice.
It was a top 10 finish in an unsponsored Young’s Motorsports truck at Darlington Raceway the same year that led to Honeycutt’s initial conversation with Niece’s general manager Cody Efaw. For Honeycutt, overachieving in underfunded equipment was essential toward surviving and maintaining a positive reputation in the NASCAR garage area.
“The chance I had to move up in the series was to take the not-seen teams and go run well with them,” Honeycutt said. “We did that with Tyler [Young] at Darlington and I think that’s where my career changed with taking the job with Niece. Cody [Efaw] let me run Pocono two years ago, I got the part-time season last year and now I’m full-time this year.”
“Other GMs ask for $3 million to run a full season, Cody asks what can we do to put you in the truck.”
The call Honeycutt received from Efaw in August confirming his role as a full-time competitor for Niece was equal parts cathartic and shocking. With so many emotions going through his mind, Honeycutt immediately thought of his family and everything they did to ensure his dream of competing in NASCAR endured.
“The first person I called was my dad [Kirby],” Honeycutt said. “It was a pretty big moment for both of us, considering how much effort he put into me by selling homes, businesses, everything for me to race even my dirt car. I can’t wait to share the moment throughout the year with him and my whole family.”
Honeycutt only recalls a few instances in his career where he has not had to worry about funding. All 25 races on the Truck Series schedule will have Honeycutt in a Niece truck, which allows him to center his focus on team chemistry and optimizing his performance across so many diverse tracks.
Daytona presents an ideal opportunity for Honeycutt to kickstart a potential championship run on a high note. Although drafting tracks are not his preference, Honeycutt believes he is starting to comprehend how to be successful in the pack, as he led three laps at Talladega Superspeedway last fall.
For as much of an equalizer as the draft is, Honeycutt knows one mistake on his behalf or someone else’s could put him in an early points deficit. With so many extraneous factors that could dictate his race on Friday, Honeycutt intends to implement a conservative, but methodical approach.
“[We’ll be fine] as long as we can [put ourselves in the mix] and stay in the top 10 for stage points,” Honeycutt said. Me and [crew chief] Phil [Gould] have talked a lot about how there are a lot of different people in the Truck Series this year, so you’re not really going to know what you’re going to get.
“If we can get stage points, that’s awesome, but if not, we’ll try to survive.”
The idea of a Daytona victory is enticing to Honeycutt, but he also understands it is just one leg of an intense marathon. Consistency is going to be imperative across the board for Honeycutt in his quest to stay one step ahead of drivers like Corey Heim, Grant Enfinger and Majeski, a familiar opponent who is also the defending Truck Series champion.
Nothing will come easy for Honeycutt in 2025, but that is a trend he has grown accustomed to. Through every form of adversity, Honeycutt emerged a more refined, disciplined competitor who has taken advantage of every opportunity in front of him.
Only a few years ago, Honeycutt was unsure if his relentless work to prove himself would translate into a national NASCAR ride. Being in Daytona has given Honeycutt time to reflect on his arduous journey, one that was improbable at times but also rewarding.
“It’s not really comparable,” Honeycutt said. “You don’t really think about it until you actually get here. It’s pretty crazy because I’ve always dreamed about starting a season at Daytona and running throughout the rest of the year. At the dirt track, I always watched every race at Daytona, so I’m excited [to be here].
“This is a thanks to all the Texas drivers I’ve had run-ins with in the past and everyone else that’s taught me to be a better person and led to this moment right here.”
What Honeycutt does with the moment ahead is to be determined, but the devoted work ethic prevalent throughout his entire career has molded him into a driver prepared to battle the Truck Series regulars and embark on a long, sustainable NASCAR career.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 14, 2025) — Today, NASCAR announced that it will officially partner with Honor and Remember through its NASCAR IMPACT platform to bring Gold Star families to tracks across the country. As a part of this new partnership, Honor and Remember — whose mission is to “publicly honor and remember every American fallen service member and recognize the enduring sacrifice of every family” — will host two Gold Star families at Daytona International Speedway for the United Rentals 300 and the 67th running of the DAYTONA 500.
In commemoration of the partnership, NASCAR and Honor and Remember will unfurl the famed Honor and Remember flag as part of pre-race ceremonies ahead of the NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 300 on Saturday, Feb. 15 at the World Center of Racing.
“NASCAR is a uniquely patriotic sport, and as such, we feel an incredible responsibility to make sure that these heroes are not forgotten as time goes by,” said Eric Nyquist, Chief Impact Officer, NASCAR. “Through this partnership, our goal is to keep the memory of these brave men and women alive in the hearts of all of our fans, and to let these families know how much they are appreciated.”
This weekend, Honor and Remember will host the families of Army Spc. Daniel J. Agami — who was killed in action in Iraq in 2007 — and Army Cpl. Jimmy L. Shelton — who lost his life in Iraq in 2005.
“Daniel loved all things fast. Everything Daniel did in life was fast, so he would have absolutely loved this,” said Beth Becker-Agami, Daniel’s mother.
A native of Coconut Creek, Fla., Agami enlisted in the Army in 2005. An avid reader who was lauded for his heroism under fire, he was awarded Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Good Conduct Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and the Army Commendation Medal during his time in uniform. Daniel was killed in action by an improvised explosive device in Adhamiya, Iraq in 2007, leaving behind a legacy of service that his mother hopes will never be forgotten.
“Being at the DAYTONA 500 like this is the last thing we could have imagined,” said Becker-Agami. “It’s all that we ask, is for Daniel to be honored and remembered.”
In conjunction with Honor and Remember, NASCAR has welcomed Gold Star families to tracks across the country for over a decade. Through its IMPACT platform, NASCAR will deepen its support for the Virginia-based nonprofit, which will host more than 20 families at NASCAR events throughout the 2025 season.
“As a Gold Star father myself, I know firsthand the incredible impact that it has on these families when thousands and thousands of people take a moment to pause and recognize their sons and daughters for their sacrifice,” said George Lutz, Founder of Honor and Remember. “NASCAR has been incredibly accommodating to these families throughout the years, so to expand that relationship here at the Great American Race really means the world to these families.”
The Honor and Remember Flag has been adopted by 28 states as an official public symbol of the sacrifice made by service men and women from all branches of the armed forces, including Cpl. Jimmy L. Shelton.
Shelton, a lifelong NASCAR fan and a proud cavalry scout assigned to the 101st Airborne Division from Lehigh Acres, Fla., was just 21 when his unit came under mortar fire in Bayji, Iraq in 2005. His actions in combat earned him a posthumous Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Now, nearly 20-years later, his mother hopes this recognition will keep his memory alive.
“Anybody that walked in the house, the first thing I would do is grab them and say, ‘Whatever you do, I want you to promise me right now that you will not stop talking about Jimmy,’ because I was so afraid he would be forgotten,” said Billi-Jo Shelton, Jimmy’s mother. “So for NASCAR to have us come to Daytona to recognize Jimmy… it means so much to know that he’s still remembered.”
Through the work of NASCAR IMPACT, introduced by the league in 2023, NASCAR has strengthened its support for fallen service members, veterans, and active-duty military through partnerships with several military support organizations.
Last year, NASCAR launched partnerships with American Corporate Partners (ACP), which provides one-on-one career mentorship for transitioning service members, Sound Off — a technology-based non-profit that provides mental health support for veterans and other members of the military community, and VetTheVote — a nonprofit that recruits veterans to serve as national nonpartisan poll workers.
The 2025 Daytona 500 will begin one hour early due to a forecast for potential inclement weather, NASCAR announced Friday.
The 67th running of the “Great American Race” was initially scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. ET start time Sunday on FOX, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Instead, coverage for the 2025 event will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET, with an expected green flag at 2 p.m. ET.
RELATED: Daytona Speedweeks schedule | Starting lineup
The 2025 Daytona 500 kicks off the Cup Series’ regular season with a $30.3 million purse for NASCAR’s most prestigious race. Chase Briscoe will start from the pole position in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, sharing the front row with Austin Cindric in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford. William Byron, the defending 500 winner, starts fifth.