Daytona 500 history

The table below summarizes the pace cars,[1] Grand Marshals,[2] Honorary Starters,[3] and performers of the national anthem[4] at the Daytona 500.

Since 2010, the United States Air Force Thunderbirds perform two flyovers after the national anthem and after the starting command.

Lee Petty, patriarch of the racing family, won the 1959 Daytona 500 on February 22, 1959, defeating Johnny Beauchamp in a highly unusual manner.

With 5 laps to go, Cale made a successful slingshot pass on the third turn to take the lead from LeeRoy and never looked back as he won his first Daytona 500 by 1.3 seconds.

It was Foyt's sixth career Winston Cup Grand National victory, and it gave the famed Wood Brothers of Stuart, VA, their third Daytona 500 triumph.

In the event punctuated by a weak field because of factory withdrawal, Foyt outlasted four rivals and beat runner-up Charlie Glotzbach by nearly two laps.

During the start of the 1974 NASCAR season, many races had their distance cut ten percent in response to the 1973 oil crisis.

[12] Richard Petty overcame tough luck of his own and capitalized on the misfortunes of Donnie Allison to win his fifth Daytona 500.

In 1975, it appeared David Pearson was on his way to his first Daytona 500 victory as he built a sizable lead on second place Benny Parsons late in the race.

The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first 500-mile (800 km) race to be broadcast live on national television, airing on CBS, whose audience was increased in much of the Eastern and Midwestern USA due to a blizzard.

That telecast introduced in-car and low-level track-side cameras, which has now become standard in all sorts of automotive racing broadcasts.

A final lap crash and subsequent fight between leaders Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison (along with Donnie's brother Bobby Allison) brought national (if unwelcome) publicity to NASCAR, with the added emphasis of a snowstorm that bogged down much of the northeastern part of the United States.

As both drivers tried to regain control, their cars made contact several more times before finally locking together and crashing into the outside wall in turn three.

Richard Petty, who was over half a lap behind at the time, went on to win; with the brawl in the infield, the television audience scarcely noticed.

The story was the talk of the water cooler the next day, even making the front page of The New York Times Sports section.