The 1966 Daytona 500, the 8th running of the event, was won by Richard Petty driving a 1966 Plymouth on February 27, 1966.

Petty drove his number 43 to victory in just over three hours after starting the race on the pole.

Dan Gurney followed with a win in Riverside before the drivers and their teams ventured to Daytona International Speedway for the 500-mile (800 km) event.

[4] NASCAR ran a total of 49 events, ending at the Rockingham Speedway in October.

[6] Richard Petty captured the pole position for the event with a speed of 175.165 miles per hour (281.901 km/h).

[1] Petty went on to lead a race-high 108 laps by the time the checkered flag fell.