During this time, Richard Petty (the race winner[2] and the eventual Winston Cup champion) was becoming one of the winningest veterans on the NASCAR circuit.

[9] It is also the series' 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.

The 2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.

The forty car field included legends like A. J. Foyt and David Pearson, both eventually acquiring top-five finishes.

McDuffie (#70), Bill Shirey (#74), Dick Poling (#78), Joe Hines (#80), Bobby Mausgrover (#84), Butch Hirst (#87), Leonard Blanchard (#95), Robert Brown (#58), E.J.

Trivette (#56), Roy Mayne (#46), Jimmy Crawford (#02), Pedro Rodríguez (#14), Dub Simpson (#16), Fritz Schultz (#23), Earl Brooks (#26), Bill Hollar (#28), Walter Ballard (#30), Wendell Scott (#34), Blackie Wangerin (#38) and Ken Meisenhelder (#41).

[12] Notable crew chiefs for this race were Paul Goldsmith, Junie Donlavey, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Tom Vandiver, Vic Ballard, Jake Elder among others.

All of the vehicles utilized during that running of the Daytona 500 were based on street version sheet metal and engine blocks of cars manufactured between 1969 and 1971.

Following the 1970 season, special, limited production 'aero' cars such as the Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird, as well as the Ford Torino Talladega and Mercury Spoiler II, were restricted to a 305 ci engine.