NASCAR Cup Series News & Notes – Daytona International Speedway – 2025 DAYTONA 500

Daytona Storylines and Insights:

• 2025 is the 77th year of NASCAR Cup Series racing and the 67th year of the DAYTONA 500.
• Hendrick has won 16 poles, 10 more than any other organization. Hendrick Motorsports won the pole in eight of the last 10 Daytona 500s, didn’t win the pole in 2024 but won the race.
• The last two seasons that Hendrick Motorsports failed to qualify a driver on the front-row in the Daytona 500, the team won the race (William Byron in 2024, Dale Earnhardt Jr in 2014).
• The pole winner finished 14^th or worse in nine of the last 10 Daytona 500s and failed to finish due to accidents in four of the last six. Alex Bowman finished fifth from the pole in 2023, the only pole winner to finish top-five in the last 23 races.
• Alex Bowman has three Daytona 500 poles, the record is four by Bill Elliott, Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough.
• Joey Logano won the pole for the 2024 DAYTONA 500 ending an 11 year streak of Chevrolet poles in the DAYTONA 500, it was Team Penske’s first DAYTONA 500 pole.
• The DAYTONA 500 winner started 10^th or worse in six of the last seven races.
• Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar, Chandler Smith and Todd Gilliland were not born the last time the Daytona 500 pole winner won the race (Dale Jarrett in 2000).
• Michael McDowell won the pole for the last five races at drafting tracks, most since Bill Elliott’s six straight in 1985/1986 (the record is seven straight by Cale Yarborough).
• Ford won the pole for the last nine races on drafting tracks.
• Only three of the last 10 DAYTONA 500s had at least 44 drivers on the entry list with only one of the 10 having more than 44 with 49 in 2015.
• Eight of the last 10 Daytona 500s were won by drivers getting their first Daytona 500 win.
• Nine drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Cup Series victory with a win in the DAYTONA 500 – Tiny Lund (1963), Mario Andretti (1967), Pete Hamilton (1970), Derrike Cope (1990), Sterling Marlin (1994), Michael Waltrip (2001), Trevor Bayne (2011), Michael McDowell (2021) and Ausitn Cindric (2022).
• Lee Petty, who won the inaugural DAYTONA 500, and Trevor Bayne, 2011 DAYTONA 500 champion, are the only two drivers to win the DAYTONA 500 in their first appearance.
• Denny Hamlin is the only repeat winner in the last 15 Daytona 500s, he won three of the last nine. Denny Hamlin starts 2025 with new crew chief Chris Gayle, Two of Hamlin’s three Daytona 500 wins came after an off-season crew chief change. Denny Hamlin’s best Daytona 500 finish in the Next Gen car is 17th in 2023.
• Ford (four) and Toyota (three) combined to win seven of the last 10 DAYTONA 500s, Chevrolet won the last two.
• A Chevrolet driver has not led the most laps in the Daytona 500 since 2015 (Jeff Gordon)
• Five reigning NASCAR Cup Series champions have gone on to win the DAYTONA 500 the season after winning the championship: Lee Petty (1959), Richard Petty (1973), Cale Yarborough (1977), Jeff Gordon (1999) and Dale Jarrett (2000).
• The Daytona 500 winner made the Championship Four three times in Elimination style Playoffs: William Byron (2024) and Denny Hamlin (2019 and 2020).
• Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing are within 43 laps of each other in most laps led by an organization all-time in the DAYTONA 500, Joe Gibbs Racing is currently the all-time leader with 1,387 laps led and Hendrick is at 1,344.
• Three times the DAYTONA 500 winner led only the final lap, all three came in the last eight races, – Michael McDowell (2021), Kurt Busch (2017) and Austin Dillon (2018).
• The eventual winner didn’t lead for the first time until lap 157 or later in seven of the last eight DAYTONA 500s (four the last eight didn’t lead for the first time until lap 200 or later).
• Dale Earnhardt holds the record for most starts before getting a DAYTONA 500 win, winning in his 20th start; Martin Truex Jr is making his 21st and Kyle Busch is making his 20th DAYTONA 500 start (21^st year after missing the 2015 500 due to injury) and both are winless (Dave Marcis holds the record for most DAYTONA 500 starts without a win at 33)
• Kyle Busch leads all drivers in laps led among drivers that are winless in the DAYTONA 500 with 342
• Only once has a stage winner in the DAYTONA 500 gone on to win the race (Denny Hamlin in 2020 after winning stage 2)
• The leader at halfway has only gone on to win the DAYTONA 500 twice since 1992: Denny Hamlin in 2016 and 2020
• The 2023 DAYTONA 500 went 530 miles due to two attempts at overtime, the longest DAYTONA 500 in history.
• Christopher Bell became the first driver to finish inside the Top 3 consecutively in the DAYTONA 500 without winning since Dale Earnhardt Jr in 2012-13 (he would win in 2014)
• The three Next Gen DAYTONA 500s have averaged 43 lead changes – the most since the tandem drafting era.
• The driver leading the most laps won one of the last eight DAYTONA 500s (Denny Hamlin – 2020)
• Chase Elliott, with nine Daytona 500 starts, will look to become the sixth driver to win the Clash and the DAYTONA 500 in the same season joining Bobby Allison (1982), Bill Elliott (1987), Dale Jarrett (1996 and 2000), Jeff Gordon (1997), Denny Hamlin (2016)
• Ford drivers led 57% of the laps raced at Daytona in the Next Gen car.
• DAYTONA 500s won in a backup car: 1969 (LeeRoy Yarborough), 1983 (Cale Yarborough), 1992 (Davey Allison), 2009 (Matt Kenseth), 2018 (Austin Dillon), 2024 (William Byron).
• 13 of the 66 DAYTONA 500s ended with a last lap pass (20%), and four of the last nine DAYTONA 500s ended with a last lap pass.
• Five of the last seven DAYTONA 500s ended in overtime, the other two ended under caution.
• Since 2014, five times a driver missed the Playoffs by seven or fewest points (points are awarded in the Duel and the fastest lap in the DAYTONA 500 will receive an additional point).
• Team Penske won at least one race on a drafting track each of the last 11 seasons, the longest ever streak by a team.
• Five different drivers have won the Daytona 500 in the last five years – Denny Hamlin (2019), Michael McDowell (2021), Austin Cindric (2022), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2023) and William Byron (2024).
• William Byron will look to become the fifth different driver to win back-to-back DAYTONA 500s this weekend joining Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84), Sterling Marlin (1994-95) and Denny Hamlin (2019-20).
• New Zealander and former Supercars Champion Shane Van Gisbergen is competing in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
• Four-time INDY500 Champion and Three-Time Rolex 24 Winner Helio Castroneves will compete in Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series Ride the ‘Dente 200 with Pinnacle Race Group before switching gears to head-up Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 for Sunday’s Great American Race, the fifth time the #91 raced for Trackhouse and the first time not on a road course.
• Trackhouse Racing will have four entries in the DAYTONA 500 from four countries, the first time in series history a team had four drivers from different countries – New Zealand, Mexico, United States and Brazil. Four countries in the 2025 DAYTONA 500 ties the record for the most set in 2010.
• An impressive lineup of drivers are looking to attempt to qualify for the DAYTONA 500, including seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, 2017 Cup Series Champion Martin Truex Jr. and last year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion Justin Allgaier.
• JR Motorsports and TRICON Garage will both attempt to make their Cup Series debut in the DAYTONA 500 this season.

NASCAR & Daytona, Etc.

Significant Events at Daytona International Speedway:

• December 14, 1947 – Bill France Sr. organizes a meeting at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Fla., to discuss the future of stock car racing. NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, is born.
• November 14, 1958 – The plans for the 2.5-mile tri-oval circuit boasting 31 degree banking are put into motion as crews begin clearing what would become the 480-acre property of the “World Center of Racing.”
• February 22, 1959 – A crowd of over 41,000 was on hand to witness the first running of the DAYTONA 500. Lee Petty is declared the winner in a photo finish after conclusive evidence from a newsreel is reviewed by Bill France Sr.
• 1959 – In the fall of 1959, the track hosted several high school football games for the Father Lopez Green Wave in the first year of the school’s football program.
• 1961 – The DAYTONA 200 motorcycle classic is moved from the beach course to the 2.0-mile road course inside Daytona International Speedway. Roger Reiman won the inaugural race with an average speed of 69.26 mph.
• February 11, 1962 – The inaugural Daytona Continental sports car race, now known as the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA, is run counter-clockwise on the 3.8-mile road course in what was then the fastest sports car race ever run in the United States.
• 1974-1975 – The track hosted four college football games featuring the Daytona-based Bethune–Cookman Wildcats in 1974 and 1975.
• February 15, 1976 – David Pearson and Richard Petty crashed battling for position coming out of the final turn of the 1976 DAYTONA 500, with both cars coming to rest before crossing the start/finish line. Petty’s car would not start, but Pearson was able to keep the car in neutral and slowly cross the line to capture his only DAYTONA 500 victory.
• February 20, 1977 – Janet Guthrie became the first woman to compete in the DAYTONA 500 in 1977. She would qualify 39th and finish 12th.
• February 18, 1979 – CBS presented the first live flag-to-flag coverage of a 500-mile NASCAR event with the Daytona 500, a show not soon to be forgotten as Richard Petty avoids an incident between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison on the last lap to win the race. With Petty racing by to take the checkered flag, Yarborough, Donnie Allison and Bobby Allison are involved in a fight in the infield grass, between Turns 3 and 4.
• July 4, 1984 – Richard Petty earned his 200th win in the July race at Daytona International Speedway, setting a mark that has yet to be challenged to this day. President Ronald Reagan was on hand to give the starting command, this first time in NASCAR history that a sitting President attended a race.
• February 9, 1987 – Dawsonville, Ga. driver Bill Elliott set the DAYTONA 500 qualifying record with a speed of 210.364 mph in the No. 9 Ford.
• October 17, 1998 – Jeff Gordon took the checkered flag in the first race NASCAR Cup race run under the new lighting system at DAYTONA. The Independence Day holiday classic was delayed until October due to summer wildfires in the area.
• July 6, 2004 – A multi-million dollar renovation of the DAYTONA infield breaks ground in the summer of 2004, including new garages, a Turn 1 tunnel, the four-story DAYTONA 500 Club, a new Gatorade Victory Lane, and the UNOH Fanzone.
• July 12, 2010 – Darrell and Michael Waltrip, the only pair of brothers to win the DAYTONA 500, took a backhoe to the Turn 1 banking of Daytona International Speedway. The event served as the ceremonial groundbreaking of the historic repaving of the iconic high banks.
• February 17, 2013 – Danica Patrick made NASCAR history by winning the pole award for the 2013 Daytona 500, becoming the first female to win a pole in NASCAR premier series history.
• January 12, 2016 – The historic multi-year, $400 million reimagining of Daytona International Speedway is completed in time for the 2016 Rolex 24 At DAYTONA. The additions included five new “injector” gate entrances, 101,500 permanent seats, twice as many restrooms and over 60 climate-controlled suites.
• May 18, 2016 – Daytona International Speedway was named Sports Facility of the Year at Sports Business Journal’s 2016 Sports Business Awards in New York City.
• 2016-2018 – Daytona International Speedway has hosted an annual summer Country Music festival called the Country 500.
• 2021–Present – Starting in 2021, Daytona International Speedway started hosting ‘Welcome To Rockville’ an annual three-day Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Music festival.
• July 2-3, 2022 – The track hosted Daytona Soccer Fest, a 2 day event highlighted by a match between América de Cali and Deportivo Cali and a NWSL match between the Orlando and Louisville.

Historical Daytona International Speedway Information:

• In the early 1950s it became apparent that, due to growth on the beachside, the days of racing on the Beach and Road Course were numbered. Bill France Racing, Inc. was established in 1953 to secure the land and financing to build a new speedway in Daytona.
• Bill France worked tirelessly to raise the funds necessary to build a track to match his vision of a 2.5 mile superspeedway and to also locate a feasible location. The contract to secure land for construction of a speedway was signed on November 8, 1957 and the Daytona International Speedway was born.
• The mammoth project began on November 25, 1957 and dream became reality with the first Daytona 500 on February 22, 1959.
• Today the 483 acre complex, once swampland, boasts the most diverse schedule of racing on the globe, earning it the title of “World Center of Racing.”
• In addition to eight major weekends of racing activity rarely a week goes by that the Speedway grounds are not used for events that include civic and social gatherings, car shows, photo “shoots,” production vehicle testing and police motorcycle training.

 Latest Daytona International Speedway Storylines

–        This year’s event marks the 10th consecutive sellout of the DAYTONA 500.

–        Blockbuster movie star, and lead in MARVEL’s upcoming film Captain America: Brave New World, Anthony Mackie will serve as grand marshal and give the command ahead of the DAYTONA 500.

–        GRAMMY® Award Winning Superstar and Trackhouse Racing Co-Owner Pitbull will perform the Pre-Race Show ahead of the DAYTONA 500.

–        Alan Ritchson will add some muscle as the honorary pace car driver for the 2025 DAYTONA 500. The actor and producer will lead the field to green for the 67^th running of The Great American Race.

–        The United States Air Force Thunderbirds return for the 15th consecutive year and 16th overall to perform the flyover above a completely sold-out crowd ahead of Sunday’s DAYTONA 500.

–        This year’s Daytona International Speedway 50/50 Raffle is officially live, giving fans the chance to win big with a guaranteed minimum jackpot of $100,000. Half of the total proceeds will support veterans and first responders through “Vet Tix”, a non-profit organization that provides essential community reintegration opportunities, family bonding experiences and improve quality of life to over 21 million military and veterans. The jackpot draw will take place on February 16, but tickets are available now at http://www.daytona5050.com.