DAYTONA 500

The Daytona 500 is a 200-lap, 500 miles (800 km) long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule. In 2009, the race celebrates its 51st running.

The Daytona 500 is regarded by many as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar, carrying by far the largest purse. Championship points awarded are equal to that of any other Sprint Cup race. It is also NASCAR's first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since 1995, U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500 which in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and international viewing. The 2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.

The event serves as the final event of Speedweeks and is known as "The Great American Race" and the "Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing." It is held the second or third Sunday in February, and since 1971, has been loosely associated with Presidents Day weekend.

The winner of the Daytona 500 is presented with the Harley J. Earl Trophy in Victory Lane, and the winning car is displayed, in race-winning condition, for one year at Daytona 500 Experience, a museum and gallery adjacent to Daytona International Speedway.

The 2008 Winner was Ryan Newman (via Wikipedia)

 


From The Blogsphere

NASCAR Start Times Uniform in 2010

via fanhouse.com ( 125 Days ago )
by Geoffrey MillerFiled under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Media Watch, Sprint CupBeginning with the 2010 Daytona 500, NASCAR fans won't have to deal with much variation in terms of start times for Sprint Cup races. NASCAR and its three television broadcast partners announced Wednesday that they are moving to a uniform -- and often earlier -- drop of the green flag for races [...]

Soldiers Inspire Ryan Newman, NASCAR's Best

via fanhouse.com ( 137 Days ago )
by Holly CainFiled under: Ryan Newman, Chase for the Sprint CupIt was not the scars and burns, nor all the prosthetic limbs, or even the constant hum of machines dripping life into some patients that most struck Ryan Newman during a visit Thursday with injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. It was a far more simple concept that impacted the 2008 Daytona 500 winner [...]

Ryan Newman Chats With FanHouse About His Case for the Chase

via fanhouse.com ( 145 Days ago )
by Holly CainFiled under: Ryan Newman, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Stewart-Haas RacingRyan Newman is back where he's spent his entire career proving he belongs: contending for a season championship.For the first time since 2006, last year's Daytona 500 winner Newman is part of NASCAR's Chase for the Championship, a 10-race playoff stretch that kicks off Sunday at New Hampshire International [...]

Video: Raekwon & Ghostface - Daytona 500 (BET The Deal)

via nahright.com ( 149 Days ago )
Props to Yardie. After the jump, Raekwon phonecall w/ Bootleg Kev. Raekwon called and spoke on how he felt when he found out OB4CL2 was #1 on Itunes, That there might be an announcement of a new Wu album in 6 weeks, what he and Hov talked about when they saw each other on Tuesday, How he recorded “Catalina” w/ Dre, what caused the numerous pushbacks of the album, how [...]

Richard Petty Motorsports drops Dodge for Ford, joins Yates Racing

via autoblog.com ( 150 Days ago )
Filed under: Motorsports, Ford, Celebrities Richard Petty with his Ford Torino Cobra at the 1969 Daytona 500 - Click above for high-res image As expected, Richard Petty Motorsports will no longer race in NASCAR using Chrysler vehicles after the current season, instead turning to Ford and joining forces with Yates Racing. The first sign of discontentment between the Pentastar and [...]

Daytona 500 Qualifying Avoids Super Bowl Conflict

via washingtonpost.com ( 165 Days ago )
Qualifying for next season's Daytona 500 will be held one day earlier than usual to avoid running the session on Super Bowl Sunday.

Mark Martin: The Legend That May Never Be Remembered

via bleacherreport.com ( 212 Days ago )
A generation from now, when people are watching the 2035 Daytona 500, announcers will talk about legends like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and quite possibly Kyle Busch. Drivers who won numerous championships and were always in competition year in and year out. But for those purists, who lived during the 1980's, 90's and 00's, they'll surely remember the soft spoken, [...]

Youngest Earnhardt Shines for NASCAR in Goodwood Festival of Speed

via bleacherreport.com ( 220 Days ago )
Most NASCAR fans remember the first time they saw Dale Earnhardt's youngest daughter Taylor Nicole. With her mother, Teresa, cradling and hugging her while watching the 1990 Daytona 500 from a TV unit in the family motorcoach, it was quite the scene to see Dale's baby girl comprehending each moment of that classic race. She would smile when her father's famous No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet [...]

Weather Determines Winner - Again

via fanhouse.com ( 226 Days ago )
by Holly CainFiled under: Jeff Gordon, Toyota, NASCAR Tracks, Sprint Cup, Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano If we celebrated David Reutimann's win at Charlotte last month and Matt Kenseth's February Daytona 500 victory -- both races called off early because of rain -- then no one can begrudge rookie Joey Logano his maiden win Sunday at rain-soaked New Hampshire Motor Speedway. However, [...]

NASCAR Victory Lane is Fun Again

via bleacherreport.com ( 232 Days ago )
Remember when Darrell Waltrip won the Daytona 500? In victory circle he exclaimed, "I won the Daytona 500!!"  You couldn’t help but laugh at him—or with him—but the pure joy of winning NASCAR's most prized trophy oozed through the television. It’s a memory that is etched into the brains of race fans everywhere. When you think about Daytona 500, often [...]

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