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Daytona 500 - Race Notes

Daytona International Speedway

Track Data:
Race #: 1 of 36 (2-19-05) Track Size: 2.5 Miles
Event: Daytona 500 Number of Laps: 200
Location: Daytona Beach, FL Length of Event: 500 Miles
Length of Front Stretch: 1,900 Feet chutes to and from the tri-oval
Length of Back Stretch: 3,400 Feet
Degree of Banking in Corners: 31 degrees
Degree of Banking on Back Stretch: 3 degrees
Degree of Banking on Tri-Oval: 18 degrees

Qualifying/Race Data:
Last year's pole winner: Dale Jarrett 188.312 mph 2-13-05 47.793 seconds
Last year's race winner: Jeff Gordon 135.173 mph 2-20-05 3 hrs, 45 min, 16 sec
Track qualifying record: Bill Elliott 210.364 mph 2-9-87 42.783 seconds
Track 500-mile race record: Buddy Baker 177.602 2-17-80 2 hrs, 48 min, 55 sec
Track qualifying record (RP): Ken Schrader 198.823 mph 2-7-88 46.434 seconds
Track 500-mile race record (RP): Dale Earnhardt 172.712 mph 2-15-98 2 hrs, 53 sec, 42 sec

Previous winners at Daytona (Excluding 125-mile qualifiers)
Richard Petty (10) Cale Yarborough (8) David Pearson (6) Bobby Allison (6) Jeff Gordon (6) Fireball Roberts (4) Bill Elliott (4) Dale Jarrett (4) A.J. Foyt (3) Sterling Marlin (3) Dale Earnhardt (3) Michael Waltrip (3) Davey Allison (2) Ernie Irvan (2) Buddy Baker (2) LeeRoy Yarbrough (2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2) Donnie Allison (1) Mario Andretti (1) Benny Parsons (1) Pete Hamilton (1) Bobby Isaac (1) Junior Johnson (1) Fred Lorenzen (1) Tiny Lund (1) Marvin Panch (1) Sam McQuagg (1) Jack Smith (1) Lee Petty (1) Neil Bonnett (1) Greg Sacks (1) Geoffrey Bodine (1) Tim Richmond (1) Darrell Waltrip (1) Derrike Cope (1) Jimmy Spencer (1) John Andretti (1) Jeff Burton (1) Ward Burton (1) Greg Biffle (1) Tony Stewart (1)
Races won from the pole: 15 of 94 events (16%)
Races won from the top 10: 72 of 94 events (77%)
Races won from outside the top 10: 22 of 94 events (23%)

Track Milestones

  • Bob Welborn won the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup (Grand National) race at Daytona International Speedway, the 100-mile qualifying race for the inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959.
  • Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959.
  • Fireball Roberts won the first 400-mile race at Daytona, the 1963 Firecracker 400.
  • The 125-mile qualifying races changed from points to non-points races in 1972.
  • Richard Petty won his 200th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Daytona International Speedway on July 4, 1984.

    Qualifying Update
    The same driver has won both Bud Poles at Daytona in three of the last nine seasons: Mike Skinner (1997), Bobby Labonte (1998) and Dale Jarrett (2000).

    Track Update
    Cale Yarborough won three straight races at Daytona, winning the 1967 Firecracker 400 and both races in 1968. Including the two times in that streak, there have been only nine back-to-back victories at Daytona. Fred Lorenzen won both races (excluding the qualifiers) in 1962. .LeeRoy Yarborough won both full-distance races in 1969 and Yarborough won the 1976 Firecracker and the 1977 Daytona 500. Bobby Allison won the 1987 Firecracker 400 and the 1988 Daytona 500. Only three consecutive victories have occurred since: Jeff Gordon (1998 Pepsi 400 and 1999 Daytona 500), Dale Jarrett (1999 Pepsi 400 and 2000 Daytona 500) and Michael Waltrip (2002 Pepsi 400 and 2003 Daytona 500).

    Manufacturer Update
    Chevrolet has won 15 of the last 22 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Daytona (68 percent). Ford won six races while Dodge claimed the other victory. Chevrolet has won at least one race each year since 1994 except 2000 which was swept by Ford.

    The Money

  • The posted awards for the Daytona 500 are $18,029,052.
  • The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Leader Bonus is worth $10,000 for the Daytona 500.
  • The MBNA Lap Leader Bonus is worth $5,000 for the Daytona 500.
  • The winner of the Daytona 500 will win at least $1,438,155.

    Notebook
    (Excludes 125-Miler qualifiers)

  • There have been 94 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at the Daytona International Speedway since the track hosted its first race in 1959: 46 were 500 miles, 42 were 400 miles and four were 250 miles. There were also 23 qualifier races that were point races (1959-1971).
  • Dale Jarrett is the defending Bud Pole winner for the Daytona 500.
  • There have been 44 different Bud Pole winners at Daytona.
  • Cale Yarborough leads all drivers with 13 Bud Poles at Daytona.
  • Bill Elliott leads all active drivers, with five Bud Poles at Daytona.
  • Bill Elliott won the 1988 Pepsi 400 from the 38th starting position, the deepest in the field that a Daytona race winner has started.
  • There have been 41 different race winners in the 94 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Daytona.
  • Jeff Gordon is the defending champion of the Daytona 500.
  • Fourteen of 94 races at Daytona have been won from the Bud Pole. Thirteen have been won from the second-starting position giving 27 race winners from the front row (29 percent).
  • Tony Stewart (2005 Pepsi 400) is the most recent driver to win at Daytona from the Bud Pole.
  • A driver has swept both races at Daytona only four times: Fireball Roberts (1962), Cale Yarborough (1968), Lee Roy Yarbrough (1969) and Bobby Allison (1982).
  • There have been six caution-free NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Daytona: 1959 Daytona 500, 1959 Firecracker 250, 1960 Firecracker 250, 1961 Daytona 500, 1961 Firecracker 250 and 1962 Daytona 500.

    Would You Believe?
    Bill Elliott has led 599 laps at Daytona, the most among active drivers. Sterling Marlin is second among active drivers with 589 laps led in 46 races. Jeff Gordon has led 469 laps in 25 races, the third most among active drivers. Tony Stewart is fourth with 375 laps led in 14 races at the famed superspeedway. Track Update Dale Jarrett has posted 10 top-10 finishes, including three victories, in his 20 races at Daytona since joining the No. 88 Robert Yates Racing team. His victory in the 1996 Daytona 500 was the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race for the No. 88 team.

    Update of the Week
    Jeff Gordon won back-to-back races at Daytona twice: July 1998 and February 1999; July 2004 and February 2005.

    How Important is Track Position?
    Seventeen of the 32 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Daytona since 1990, have been won from a top-five starting position. Only seven of those races were won from outside the top 10: Derrike Cope (1990 Daytona 500) Dale Jarrett (1999 Pepsi 400 – 12th) Michael Waltrip (2001 Daytona 500 – 19th) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2001 Pepsi 400 – 13th) Ward Burton (2002 Daytona 500 – 19th) Greg Biffle (2003 Pepsi 400 – 30th)

    Career Milestone Starts
    The following career-milestones starts will occur if the driver makes the field for the 2006 Daytona 500:

  • Kyle Petty - 750
  • Elliott Sadler - 250
  • Dave Blaney - 200
  • Robby Gordon - 200
  • Carl Edwards - 50

    New Ironman
    With the retirement of Ricky Rudd (788) and Rusty Wallace (697), Mark Martin will take on the active consecutive starts record with a start in the 2006 Daytona 500. It will be Martin's 582nd consecutive start - 134 more than his nearest competitor Jeff Gordon (438). Rudd also held the active record for consecutive Daytona starts (51). That mark passes to Sterling Marlin with 46 consecutive Daytona races.

    Daytona Mastery
    No driver has ever won all four of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup events of Speedweeks -The Bud Shootout, the Bud Pole for the Daytona 500, a qualifying race and the Daytona 500. Several driver have won three of the four - inlcuding Buddy Baker who won the first Bud Shootout, the Bud Pole and his qualifying race in the first year the four events were held (1979). Baker finished 41st in the Daytona 500 - completing only 38 laps after engine failure.
    * Cale Yarborough won the Bud Pole, his qualifer and the Daytona 500 in 1984.
    * Ken Schrader won the Bud Shootout, the Bud Pole and his qualifier in 1989.
    * Dale Jarrett won the Bud Shootout, the Bud Pole and the Daytona 500 in 2000.

    Preliminary Events
    Success in the preliminary events has not corresponded to success in the Daytona 500 in the modern era. Only 14 times has a preliminary event winner gone on to victory in that year's Daytona 500:

  • Bud Shootout winners: Bill Elliott (1987), Dale Jarrett (1996 and 2000) and Jeff Gordon (1997).
  • Qualifying race winners: Cale Yarborough (1977 and 1984), Bill Elliott (1985), Bobby Allsion (1988), Dale Earnhardt (998) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004).
  • Bud Pole winners: Bill Elliott (1985 and 1987), Jeff Gordon (1999) and Dale Jarrett (2000).

    Gatorade Duel Qualifying Races

  • Dale Earnhardt (12 - including 10 straight from 1990-1999) posted the most qualifying-race victories.
  • The winner of a qualifying race has gone on to win the Daytona 500 eight times in the 47 races since 1959 - six since 1977.
  • The first driver to win a qualifying race and then the Daytona 500 was Fireball Roberts in 1962.
  • The last time a qualifying race winner won the Daytona 500 the same year: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004). This was also the first time since his father did so in 1998.

    Qualifying

  • In the past, 26 seasons (1980-2005), the Bud Pole winner has won the Daytona 500 six times, Buddy Baker (1980), Cale Yarborough (1984), Bill Elliott (1985), Bill Elliott (1987), Jeff Gordon (1999) and Dale Jarrett (2000). The second-fastest qualifier won the Daytona 500 four times in the same period. Dale Jarrett is the most recent driver to win from both first (2000) and second (1993).
  • The winner of the Daytona 500 has started outside the top 10 only four times in the last 26 races: Derrike Cope (1990 - 12th place), Michael Waltrip (2001 - 19th), Ward Burton (2002 – 19th) and Jeff Gordon (2005 -15th).

    The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Champion
    Tony Stewart has scored seven top-10 finishes in 14 races at Daytona, including victory in the 2005 Pepsi 400. His best Daytona 500 finish of second came in 2004. He finished seventh in the 2005 Daytona 500. The reigning champion has won the Daytona 500 four times (1973, 1977, 1999 and 2000). Three or More Dale Jarrett's three Daytona 500 victories are the most among active drivers. Only three other drivers have won three or more 500's - Richard Petty (seven); Cale Yarborough (four) and Bobby Allison (three).

    Elusive Victory

  • Dale Earnhardt was the most celebrated non-winner of the Daytona 500 until his 1998 victory in his 20th Daytona 500 start. Several active drivers have been trying for many years to win their first 500 and have passed the “20” mark without a win are Terry Labonte (26), Kyle Petty (24), Mark Martin (21) and Ken Schrader (21). Schrader, Labonte and Petty have never won a points race at Daytona.
  • Drivers that did not win the 500 until 15 or more attempts: David Pearson (15), Bobby Allison (15), Buddy Baker (18), Darrell Waltrip (17) and Michael Waltrip (15).
  • The most all-time Daytona 500's without a win -- Dave Marcis - 33.

    Restrictor-Plate History

  • Since 1988 the primary method of limiting the speeds of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup cars on the Daytona and Talladega superspeedways has been the reduction of the airflow through the carburetor by the use of restrictor-plates.
  • There have been 72 restrictor-plate races since 1988: 34 at Daytona International Speedway and 34 at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • Five drivers have competed in all 72 restrictor-plate races: Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, Rusty Wallace and Michael Waltrip.
  • Twenty-eight different drivers have won Bud Poles for restrictor-plate events; 18 have won more than one restrictor-plate pole.
  • Three drivers have accounted for 19 restrictor-plate poles: Sterling Marlin (seven) along with Ernie Irvan and Dale Earnhardt (six each).
  • Twenty-five different drivers have won restrictor-plate races led by Dale Earnhardt with 11 victories followed by Jeff Gordon (eight), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (seven), Dale Jarrett (six) and Sterling Marlin (five).
  • Dale Earnhardt had a 9.377 average finish in 53 restrictor-plate races. Only Bobby Allison, who compiled a 1.5 average finish in only two restrictor-plate races, posted a better average finish.
  • Dale Earnhardt (Talladega 1990 and '99) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Talladega 2002) are the only drivers to sweep both restrictor-plate races at a track in a single season.

    Qualifying Update
    Ricky Rudd won the Bud Pole at Talladega in April 2004, with a lap of 191.180 mph. Joe Nemechek followed that with a qualifying lap of 190.749 mph for the fall Talladega race. Those were the only +190mph restrictor-plate qualifying laps since Nemechek posted a lap of 198.331 mph at Talladega in October 1999.

    Manufacturer Update
    Chevrolet has won 17 of the last 20 restrictor-plate races. Ford has two restrictor-plate victory since 2000 and Dodge has one.

    Restrictor-Plate Would You Believe?
    Dale Earnhardt is the all-time lap leader with 2,135 laps led in 53 restrictor-plate races. The next three places on the all-time list are active drivers. Jeff Gordon is second all-time and leads all active drivers with 1,109 laps led 52 restrictor-plate events. Sterling Marlin is third with 1,004 laps led in his 71 restrictor-plate races. Dale Earnhardt Jr., fourth all-time, has led 770 laps in just 24 restrictor-plate races.

    Notebook Items

  • Both of Jimmy Spencer's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victories occurred in restrictor-plate races.
  • Forty-nine restrictor-plate races have been won from a top-10 starting position but only six have been won from the Bud Pole.
  • Jeff Gordon (2004 Pepsi 400) and Tony Stewart (2005 Pepsi 400) are the only drivers in the past five years to win a restrictor-plate race from the Bud Pole.
  • Ten of the 20 restrictor-plate races since 2001, have been won from a starting position outside the top 10, but four of the past six have been won from the front row.
  • The average starting position of the race winner in the 72 restrictor-plate races is 8.2.

    Mr. Restrictor-Plate
    Dale Earnhardt was undoubtedly the master of restrictor-plate racing. He still leads all other drivers in five of the seven restrictor-plate performance categories and is second in the other two.

  • Poles – 6 (tied with Ernie Irvan; second to Sterling Marlin - 7)
  • Wins - 11
  • Top 5s - 32
  • Top 10s - 40
  • Avg. Start - 8.6 (second only to Davey Allison – 5.7 among drivers with 20 or more restrictor-plate starts)
  • Avg. Finish - 9.3**
  • Laps Led - 2,135 ** Drivers with 3 or more starts

    Mr. Restrictor-Plate – Page Two
    Dale Earnhardt Jr., has assumed the restrictor-plate crown, winning six restrictor-plate races since his father's death. Earnhardt Jr., led 229 of the 736 restrictor-plate laps raced in 2001 and was the only driver to score four restrictor-plate top-10s that season. He out-scored his nearest competitor, Jeff Burton, by 135 points in points earned in restrictor-plate races (692-557). He continued his winning restrictor-plate program into 2002, posting three top 10 finishes, including two more Talladega victories, in the four restrictor-plate races that season. Earnhardt Jr., won the first Talladega race in 2003 – his record-setting fourth consecutive victory at the Alabama superspeedway - and went on to post three top-10 finishes in the four restrictor-plate races in 2003. Earnhardt Jr., led 102 of 645 laps, second only to teammate Michael Waltrip who led 103. The 2004 season-opening Daytona 500 saw Earnhardt Jr., post his sixth restrictor-plate victory and he followed that with a second-place finish at Talladega, a third Daytona in July and another victory at Talladega in October. He was the only driver to post a top-five finish in each of the four races and led 216 of 736 restrictor-plate laps raced in 2004.

    Page Three and Four
    After being shut-out of the restrictor-plate victory lanes for three years during the height of the Dale Earnhardt Inc. dominance (2001-2003), Jeff Gordon has recently regained his restrictor-plate form. Gordon has won four of the last seven restrictor-plate races.
    Tony Stewart has also gained success in recent restrictor-plate races. Stewart has posted seven top-10 finishes in his last 10 restrictor-plate races, including a victory in the 2005 Pepsi 400 - his first restrictor-plate victory. He has also led the most laps (445) and posted the best average finish (7.10) over those 10 races.

    Restrictor-Plate Victories
    No driver has ever won all four restrictor-plate races in a season. Dale Earnhardt won three of the four restrictor-plate races in 1990. Including Earnhardt's three, a driver has won two restrictor-plate races in the same season 15 times: Davey Allison (1989 and '92), Ernie Irvan (1992), Dale Earnhardt (1990, '93 and '99), Jimmy Spencer (1994), Sterling Marlin (1995 and '96), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2001, '02 and '05), Michael Waltrip (2003) and Jeff Gordon (2004 and '05).
    There were four different restrictor-plate winners five times: 1988, ?91, ?97, ?98 and 2000.

    How to Make the Field for the Daytona 500

  • One round of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series timed qualifying will be held on February 12th. Each team will run two laps with the best time of the two setting the qualifying time. The two fastest qualifiers set starting positions one and two and are the only guaranteed starters, filling the front row for the Daytona 500.
  • The Gatorade Duels, the 150-mile qualifying races held on February 16th, will determine starting positions for the Daytona 500 beyond the front row. In the event of cancellation, the field will be set according to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Rule Book.
  • The eligible highest ranked 35 in 2005 car owner points will be assigned to Gatorade Duel races based on their standing in the 2005 final car owner points. Odd-numbered owner points will compete in the first Gatorade Duel led to the green by the Bud Pole winner; even-numbered owners will compete in the second. The only exception is that the fastest qualifier will compete in the first Gatorade Duel and the second fastest will complete in the second, regardless of 2005 car owner point standings. Owners who failed to finish in the top-35 of the 2005 car owner points will be assigned to a Gatorade Duel based on qualifying times – the highest qualifying owner to the first Duel; the next to the second and alternating through the remaining entries. Starting positions for the Gatorade Duels are based on qualifying times.
  • Finishing positions in the Gatorade Duels will determine starting positions in the Daytona 500. First the frontrow qualifiers will be removed from the equation. The eligible highest ranked 35 in car owner points plus the two highest finishing non-top 35 teams will be lined up in the odd-number starting positions based on their finish in the first Duel. The eligible highest ranked 35 in car owner points plus the two highest finishing nontop 35 teams will be lined up in the even-number starting positions based on their finish in the second Duel.
  • The remaining positions will be filled based on qualifying times beginning with the next available position.
  • The 43rd starting position will be assigned to any car owner who has a past NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Champion as the driver who does not make the race by any other method providing the driver competed in the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season. If the 43rd position remains unused it will be assigned to the next highest qualifying time.

    Daytona 500 Bud Pole Update
    There have been 14 different Bud Pole winners in the last 16 Daytona 500s. Dale Jarrett (1995, 2000 and 2005) is the only repeat Bud Pole winner since 1990. Daytona 500 Tidbits

  • Thirty-one different drivers have won the Bud Pole for the Daytona 500.
  • Only seven of the 31 Daytona 500 pole winners have won the pole more than once: Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough and Bill Elliott (four); Fireball Roberts, Ken Schrader and Dale Jarrett (three); Donnie Allison (two).
  • Seven Daytona 500 winners have won by a margin of one lap or more, most recently by David Pearson in 1976.
  • Only three drivers have won the Daytona 500 Bud Pole in their rookie season: Loy Allen - 1994 (sixth career race), Mike Skinner - 1997 (16th career race) and Jimmie Johnson - 2002 (fourth career race).
  • In 1963, Johnny Rutherford was the fastest qualifier in his first NASCAR race attempt, but the Daytona 500 Bud Pole went to the driver winning a special 25-mile race (Fireball Roberts).
  • Tony Stewart was second fastest in 1999 Daytona 500 qualifying, his career-first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race.
  • Bobby Allison won the 1978 Daytona 500 from the 33rd starting position, the deepest in the field that a Daytona 500 race winner has started.
  • Twenty-nine drivers have won the Daytona 500.
  • Richard Petty leads all other drivers with seven Daytona 500 victories.
  • Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett lead all other active drivers, each with three Daytona 500 victories.
  • Three drivers have won consecutive Daytona 500s: Richard Petty (1973 and ?74), Cale Yarborough (1983 and ?84) and Sterling Marlin (1994 and ?95).
  • The winner of the Daytona 500 has gone on to win the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Championship seven times: Lee Petty (1959), Richard Petty (1964, ?71, ?74, ?79), Cale Yarborough (1977) and Jeff Gordon (1997).

    How Important is Track Position in the Daytona 500?
    Twenty-six of the 47 Daytona 500s have been won from a top-five starting position. Nine have been won from the Bud Pole, including two of the last seven: Jeff Gordon (1999) and Dale Jarrett (2000). The only Daytona 500s won from outside a top-10 starting position since 1980 were by Derrike Cope (12th - 1990), Michael Waltrip (19th - 2001), Ward Burton (19th - 2002) and Jeff Gordon (15th - 2005).

    Projection
    Success in the Daytona 500 carries weight for the rest of the season. In the 27 years of the Daytona 500 at least two drivers that finished in the top-10 in the Great American Race have also finished in the top-10 in that season final point standings. At least half of the Daytona 500 top 10 have finished in the point top 10 16 times with a high of seven occuring three times (1987, '88 and '94). In 2005, five of the Daytona 500 top-10 finishers posted top-10 points standings at season's end.

    Daytona 500 Update
    Four of the last 10 Daytona 500s have ended under caution: 2003, 2000, 1998 and 1997. The other six have all had a margin of victory of less than three-tenths of a second: 0.158 (2005) 0.273 (2004) 0.193 (2002) 0.124 (2001) 0.128 (1999) 0.120 (1996).

    Daytona 500 Winless

  • Dale Earnhardt was the most celebrated non -winner of the Daytona 500 until his victory in 1998 (20 attempts).
  • Ricky Rudd went 28 races without a Daytona 500 victory while Rusty Wallace failed to win in 23 attempts
  • Other active drivers with 20 or more races without a victory in the season opener: Terry Labonte - 26 Kyle Petty - 24 Mark Martin, Ken Schrader - 21
  • The most Daytona 500s all-time without a victory was Dave Marcis (33 races).



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