By Adam Carabine
And just like that, NASCAR is back! After what has felt like an extra-long off-season, it’s time to dive deep into The Great American Race – the Daytona 500.
Daytona International Speedway may be the most famous track in NASCAR. The first ever Daytona 500 was won by Lee Petty in 1959, and has been the season opener since 1982. It is a 2.5 mile high-speed tri-oval.
The race will be 200 laps long (for a total of 500 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 65 – 130 – 200. The fuel window is approximately 38-42 laps.
This is the first race of the 2022 Cup Series season.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Daytona:
Justin Haley 6.67 over 3 races
Bubba Wallace 13.67 over 9 races
Austin Dillon 14.88 over 17 races
Austin Cindric 15.00 over 1 race
Denny Hamlin 15.88 over 32 races
Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Daytona:
Daniel Suarez 30.22 over 9 races
Cody Ware 29.33 over 3 races
Timmy Hill 25.50 over 2 races
Cole Custer 25.50 over 4 races
BJ McLeod 23.40 over 5 races
Daytona is classified as a Super Speedway.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Super Speedways
Justin Haley 14.96 over 7 races
Austin Cindric 15.00 over 1 race
Chase Briscoe 16.25 over 4 races
Ty Dillon 16.30 over 18 races
Kevin Harvick 16.37 over 83 races
Richard Petty is the winningest driver at Daytona, having won 10 times. Cale Yarborough follows behind with 8, and then Bobby Allison, David Pearson and Jeff Gordon all each have 6. As far as current drivers go, Denny Hamlin has 3 victories, and Kevin Harvick has 2.
Notable drivers who have not won at Daytona:
Martin Truex Jr. (has won at 15 other tracks)
Kyle Larson (has won at 14 other tracks)
Chase Elliott (has won at 11 other tracks)
Alex Bowman (has won at 6 other tracks)
Justin Haley lists Daytona as his BEST track by average finish. No drivers list it as their WORST track.
The race begins Sunday, February 19th at 2:30 pm EST (11:30 am PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!
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