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Odds and Ends - Daytona
July 1, 2008
By VI News
VegasInsider.com
Daytona International Speedway:
History
Groundbreaking for Daytona International Speedway was on November 25, 1957.
The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona was a 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, 1959.
The first NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona was held on Feb. 13, 1982.
Richard Petty won his 200th career race on July 4, 1984 at Daytona.
Lights were installed in the spring of 1998. However, the race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires. The second Daytona race has been held under lights ever since.
The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona was held on Feb. 18, 2000.
Notebook
There have been 122 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at the Daytona International Speedway since the track hosted its first race in 1959: 50 have been 500 miles, 45 were 400 miles and four 250 miles. There were also 23 qualifier races that were point races (one in 1959; two from 1960-1971).
Fireball Roberts won the inaugural pole.
Bob Welborn won the first race, the 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500.
Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959.
Fireball Roberts won the first 400-mile race at Daytona, in 1963.
50 drivers have posted poles; 19 have more than one.
Cale Yarborough leads all drivers with 13 poles.
Bill Elliott leads all active drivers with five poles.
52 drivers have won; 24 have won more than once.
Richard Petty leads all drivers in victories at Daytona with 10.
Jeff Gordon has six victories at Daytona, more than any other active driver.
The Wood Brothers have won 14 races at Daytona, more than any other organization.
15 full-length races at Daytona have been won from the pole. Thirteen have been won from the second starting position, for a total of 28 race winners from the front row.
A driver has swept both races at Daytona only four times, most recently by Bobby Allison in 1982.
Bill Elliott won the 1988 summer race from 38th, the deepest in the field that a Daytona race winner has started.
Tony Stewart has led 531 laps in 19 races at Daytona, more than any other active driver. He is 10th all-time in laps led there. Jeff Gordon is 12th all-time in Daytona laps led with 511 – but Gordon has competed in 12 more races there than Stewart.
NASCAR in Florida
There have been 157 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in Florida:
All-time, 150 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series have their home state recorded as Florida.
There have been nine race winners from Florida in NASCAR’s three national series:
Daytona International Speedway Data
Race #: 18 of 36 (7-5-08)
Track Size: 2.5 miles
Race Length: 400 miles (160 laps)
Banking/Corners: 31 degrees
Banking/Straights: 3 degrees
Banking/Tri-Oval: 18 degrees
Driver Rating at Daytona:
Tony Stewart 108.1
Ryan Newman 98.6
Jimmie Johnson 95.5
Kyle Busch 95.3
Kurt Busch 93.0
Matt Kenseth 92.4
Jeff Gordon 91.9
Sam Hornish Jr.* 90.1
Clint Bowyer 88.0
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 87.5
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2007 races (7 total) at Daytona. * -- Hornish has run one race at Daytona.
Qualifying/Race Data
2007 pole winner: None (inclement weather)
2007 race winner: Jamie McMurray, 138.983 mph, 7-7-07)
Track qualifying record: Bill Elliott (210.364 mph, 42.783 secs., 2-9-87)
Track race record: Bobby Allison (173.473 mph, 7-4-80)
Estimated Pit Window: 36-38 laps depending on fuel mileage.
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