Today in Nascar History February

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Today in Nascar History February 13th:

Winners on this date: Lee Petty.

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Today in Nascar History February 14th:

Winners on this date: Junior Johnson, Fred Lorenzen, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison (2 times), Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, and Jamie McMurray.

February 14th, 1960: Junior Johnson passes Bobby Johns with 9 laps to go and goes onto win the 2nd annual Daytona 500. Johnson's 59 Chevy Impala beats 68 cars and he collects 19,600 dollars for his win.




This was the sportsman support race in 1960-the biggest crash in Nascar History (and it will remain so-as more than 43 cars were involved) miraculously no one was seriously hurt in this!






February 14th, 1965: Fred Lorenzen beats Darel Dieringer by a lap to win a rain shortened Daytona 500.




February 14th, 1971: Richard Petty beats Buddy Baker to the line to claim his 3rd career Daytona 500 victory. It is a 1-2 finish for Petty Enterprises in the race. Dick Brooks finishes 7th in the race in a winged Dodge Daytona-the last time the car appears in a Nascar race.




February 14th, 1982: Bobby Allison wins his 2nd career Daytona 500, dominating and winning the race by over a lap.

Starting Grid

February 14th, 1988: Father and son Bobby and Davey Allison battle to the line and score a 1-2 finish in the Daytona 500 with Bobby winning over his son in one of the most memorable Daytona 500s ever. Bobby to this day has no memory of the day due to his serious crash at Pocono and the resulting memory loss. Also in the race the tire wars once again start as Hoosier tires appear on 10 vehicles. Richard Petty also escapes a horrifying frontstretch crash in which the famed #43 tumbles end over end and then gets clobbered in a big accident.

Starting Line Up

Petty Crash

Finish






February 14th, 1993: With his father Ned Jarrett calling from the announce booth, Dale Jarrett holds off Dale Earnhardt in "the Dale and Dale show" It is Earnhardt’s 15th attempt at the win, and he again comes up short, this time to Jarrett and the relative newcomer Joe Gibbs racing team. The day is filled with wrecks, including Rusty Wallace’s horrifying tumble down the backstretch.

Intro

Restart and Kyle Petty/Bobby Hillin crash-Petty had been dominant car of the day to this point.

Wallace Crash

Finish








February 14th, 1999: Jeff Gordon makes a daring pass on Rusty Wallace with 11 laps to go and holds off Dale Earnhardt to win his 2nd career Daytona 500. (This pass was one of the main things that led to yellow line rule) (Also Tony Stewart’s first Cup race for those wondering)

Big One-Jarrett Upside Down

Finish






February 14th, 2010: In one of the wildest and weirdest Daytona 500's of all-time, Jamie McMurray takes the biggest win of his career, holding off a hard charging Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the line. The race was the longest in 500 history at 520 miles due to 3 attempts at a green white checker finish and it also had 52 lead changes among a record 21 different drivers. It contained 2 separate red flags for a pothole in the middle of the track in turn 2 that kept coming up. The race finished almost 6 and a half hours after it started.

The finish

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Today in Nascar History February 15th:

Winners on this date: Red Byron, Bill Blair, David Pearson, Richard Petty, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Matt Kenseth.

February 15th, 1948: In the first ever sanctioned race by Nascar (the first race in Nascar Cup Series history) Red Byron drives a 1939 Ford to victory on the Daytona Beach Road Course. 14,000 spectators pay 2.50 to watch the event.




February 15th, 1953: Bill Blair passes Fonty Flock on the last lap as Flock runs out of fuel to win on the Daytona Beach Road Course. It is the first race decided by a last lap pass in Cup Series history.




February 15th, 1976: In one of the most famous finishes in Daytona 500 and Nascar history, David Pearson keeps his wrecked racecar running and coasts across the finish line to win the Daytona 500. Pearson and rival Richard Petty are racing for the win out of turn 4 coming for the checkers when they collide and crash. Pearson keeps his car running while Petty stalls out a few feet from the finish line.








February 15th, 1981: Richard Petty wins the Daytona 500 for a record 7th time, a mark that still stands today.






February 15th, 1987: Bill Elliott passes Geoff Bodine with 3 laps to go as he runs out of gas, and holds on to take his 2nd career Daytona 500 victory. This is the last Daytona 500 ran without a restrictor plate.




February 15th, 1998: After 20 years of frustration, Dale Earnhardt conquers Nascar’s biggest race and wins the Daytona 500. (No explaining to do-I’m sure everyone knows this race and has seen it 1,000,000 times)








February 15th, 2004: 6 years to the day after his father won the Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr. holds off Tony Stewart to win the Great American Race.





February 15th, 2009: Matt Kenseth uses a push from Kevin Harvick to pass Elliott Sadler and get out front right before the rains come and Nascar calls the Daytona 500. The win is Kenseth's first 500 triumph and the first for car owner Jack Roush.

The big one

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Today in Nascar History February 16th:

Winners on this date: Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Benny Parsons, Geoff Bodine, Davey Allison, Jeff Gordon, and Michael Waltrip.

February 16th, 1975: David Pearson spins with 3 laps to go, giving the lead to relative underdog Benny Parsons who goes onto win the Daytona 500. It is the biggest victory of his career.




February 16th, 1986: Dale Earnhardt has to come in to pit with 3 laps to go in the Daytona 500, leaving leader Geoff Bodine with no challenge as he goes onto win the Daytona 500.




February 16th, 1992: Davey Allison beats Morgan Shepherd in a run to the line to win the Daytona 500. All of Allison's big rivals are taken out in a multi-car accident on the backstretch midway through the event.

Big One




Finish






February 16th, 1997: Jeff Gordon passes Bill Elliott with 6 laps to go and leads a 1-2-3 finish for Hendrick Motorsports in the Daytona 500-giving a tribute to their owner who is battling Leukemia.

Robert Pressley Wild Ride (check the camera angles on the backstretch at the start of the clip-those are sweet-need to be brought back!)






February 16th, 2003: Michael Waltrip holds off rookie Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch to win the rain shortened Daytona 500-the 2nd of his career.






February 16th, 2013: In the first race for Nascar’s new “Gen 6” racecar, Kevin Harvick holds off a last lap charge by Greg Biffle to win the Sprint Unlimited exhibition event at Daytona for the 3rd time in 5 years.

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Today in Nascar History February 17th:

Winners on this date: Cotton Owens, Richard Petty, Buddy Baker, Bill Elliott, Ernie Irvan, Ward Burton, and Ryan Newman.

February 17th, 1957: Cotton Owens drives a Pontiac to victory at the Daytona Beach Road Course. It is the first victory for the nameplate in Nascar history.




February 17th, 1974: Richard Petty comes from behind to win the Daytona 500, making the winning pass with 11 laps remaining. The race is only 450 miles due to the energy shortage of 1974.




February 17th, 1980: Buddy Baker wins the fastest Daytona 500 in history, averaging over 177 mph in his victory, which comes in his 18th try.





February 17th, 1985: Bill Elliott demolishes the field and wins the Daytona 500 easily. Elliott’s fast Ford sat on the pole at over 205 mph and almost lapped the entire field in its qualifying race.




February 17th, 1991: Ernie Irvan holds onto win the Daytona 500 as Dale Earnhardt and Davey Allison crash behind him in the late laps. It is Irvan's 2nd career win.




February 17th, 2002: Ward Burton pulls off one of the biggest upsets in Nascar history, winning the Daytona 500. Burton takes advantage of a mental blunder by leader Sterling Marlin, who, under a red flag, gets out of his car and pulls on his fender-which is a no-no.







February 17th, 2008: Ryan Newman gets a late race push from Penske teammate Kurt Busch to pass the Toyotas of Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch and win the 50th running of the Daytona 500. It is the first for car owner Roger Penske.







February 17th, 2013: Danica Patrick makes history by winning the pole for the Daytona 500 at over 196 mph. The accomplishment marks the first ever pole for a female in Nascar’s highest division and the first one for a female in the Great American Race. It is also Patrick’s first career Cup pole and the fastest qualifying lap turned at Daytona since 1991.

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Today in Nascar History February 18th-perhaps the single most important day in Nascar history for a lot of reasons-some good and some bad.

Winners on this date: Fireball Roberts, Richard Petty (2 times), Derrike Cope, Dale Jarrett, Michael Waltrip, and Kevin Harvick.

February 18th, 1962: Fireball Roberts driving Smokey Yunick's smoking fast #22 car, destroys the field in the Daytona 500, completing a complete sweep of Speedweeks. Richard Petty and his team who finished 2nd protested the car after Roberts led 144 of the 200 laps but to no avail.




February 18th, 1973: Buddy Baker dominates the Daytona 500 but loses his engine 6 laps from the finish, giving the win to Richard Petty-his 4th Daytona 500 win.




February 18th, 1979: Richard Petty holds off Darrell Waltrip on the final lap to win his 6th career Daytona 500. It is the first race covered flag to flag by a major network, as CBS chooses to cover the event. It proves a good choice, as leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crash battling for the lead on the last lap and then subsequently "the fight" breaks out between Donnie's brother Bobby and Cale in the infield. It all makes for great and compelling television, and with the east coast covered by a snowstorm-it made for big ratings (13.5 million). Nascar had made it bigtime.








February 18th, 1990: Dale Earnhardt dominates the Daytona 500 and appears headed for a victory when his Daytona luck bites him once again heading into turn 3 on the final lap. Earnhardt cuts a tire, allowing unheralded Derrike Cope to pass him and win the race in quite possibly the biggest upset in Daytona 500 history. It would take Earnhardt another 8 years to finally win the Great American Race.






February 18th, 1996: Dale Jarrett driving one of Robert Yates’ Fords wins his 2nd career Daytona 500, again holding off Dale Earnhardt to do so.





February 18th, 2001: Michael Waltrip breaks his 0 for 462 career streak by taking his first career win in Nascar’s biggest race, the Daytona 500. Waltrip's owner and Nascar Legend Dale Earnhardt perishes in a last lap crash while trying to hold on for 3rd place. It is perhaps Nascar's darkest day. Prior to the Earnhardt tragedy the race had been super competitive-one of the best Daytona 500s of all-time. Tony Stewart survived a harrowing flip on the backstretch late in the event and numerous lead changes had occurred. It was also the first race for Fox Sports.

February 18th, 2007: Kevin Harvick drag races Mark Martin to the line to win the Daytona 500 as chaos happens right behind them. The 2007 finish joins 1976 and 1979 as perhaps the most exciting in 500 history.

February 18th, 2011: 10 years to the day after he wins the Daytona 500 and his boss and friend Dale Earnhardt lost his life, Michael Waltrip wins the Camping World Truck Series Race at Daytona in the #15 truck with a thrilling last lap pass of Elliott Sadler.

February 18th, 2012: In perhaps the wildest Bud Shootout Exhibition Event of all-time, Kyle Busch executes a last second pass on Tony Stewart to win by the closest margin in Shootout history. Busch survives basically spinning and saving his car twice and rallies in an amazing driving performance. Nascar's new rules limiting the two car tango bring back pack racing and result in many multi-car accidents, including one in which 4-time champ Jeff Gordon ended up on his roof and flipping on the front straight.

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Today in Nascar History February 19th:

Winners on this date: Cale Yarborough (2 times), Charlie Glotzbach, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, and Jimmie Johnson.

February 19th, 1970: Cale Yarborough and Charlie Glotzbach win the 125 mile qualifying races at Daytona. Rookie driver Talmadge Prince is killed in a crash on lap 19 of the 2nd race when his car gets T-boned in the driver’s door :(




February 19th, 1978: Bobby Allison passes Buddy Baker with 11 laps to go and goes on to win the Daytona 500, breaking a 67 race winless streak.




February 19th, 1984: Cale Yarborough outduels Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt on the final lap to win his 4th career Daytona 500.




February 19th, 1989: In his 17th Daytona 500 try driving the #17 car, Darrell Waltrip finally wins the Daytona 500. Waltrip uses fuel strategy to win, coasting on fumes across the line 7 seconds ahead of runner-up Ken Schrader.




February 19th, 1995: Sterling Marlin holds off a hard charging Dale Earnhardt to win the Daytona 500 for a second straight year.





February 19th, 2006: On a gloomy, misty day in Daytona, Jimmie Johnson holds off Casey Mears to win the Daytona 500. Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, is suspended for the race from an infraction earlier in Speedweeks. Darian Grubb crews Johnson's #48 to the win.





February 19th, 2012: Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle power car owner Jack Roush to a sweep of the front row for the Daytona 500.




Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin collide in turn 2 of the final lap opening the door for Joey Logano who wins the Clash at Daytona. Danica Patrick finishes 4th-the highest ever finish for a female in a Cup Series exhibition race.

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Today in Nascar History February 20th:

Winners on this date: Bob Welborn, David Pearson, Bobby Isaac, AJ Foyt, Cale Yarborough (2 times), Sterling Marlin, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, and Trevor Bayne.

February 20th, 1954: Cotton Owens takes the checkers in the modified division race at the Daytona Beach Road Course. The race is special because it contains the largest starting field in stock car history, 136 cars!




February 20th, 1972: AJ Foyt destroys the field in an absolutely dominating performance in the Wood Brothers #21 to win the Daytona 500.




February 20th, 1977: Cale Yarborough holds off Benny Parsons to win his 2nd career Daytona 500.




February 20th 1983: Cale Yarborough, driving a backup car after destroying his primary car in qualifying, passes Buddy Baker on the last lap to win his 3rd Daytona 500.




February 20th, 1994: In his 279thstart, Sterling Marlin holds on to win the Daytona 500. It is Marlin’s first career Cup Series triumph.




February 20th, 2000: Dale Jarrett passes underdog Johnny Benson late in the going and holds off Jeff Burton to win his 3rd Daytona 500.




February 20th, 2005: Jeff Gordon holds off a snarling pack of cars behind him to win his 3rd career Daytona 500.




February 20th, 2011: In a story straight out of a fairytale book, rookie Trevor Bayne, in only his 2nd career Cup Series Start, holds off a hard charging Carl Edwards and David Gilliland to score a gigantic upset win in the Daytona 500 in the Wood Brother's famous #21 Ford. Bayne uses a fast car and patience to avoid the record 16 cautions which take place during the record-setting event (the race also had a record number of lead changes-74). Other important notables from this race: Bayne becomes the youngest Daytona 500 winner ever (20 years, 1 day-beating Jeff Gordon’s mark by 5 years). It is the 5th Daytona 500 win for the Wood Brothers, the first since David Pearson in 1976. It is Ford's 600th career Nascar Victory. It is Bayne's first win in any of the top 3 Nascar divisions period. It is the first time a driver has won the Daytona 500 in his first career start in the race since 1959 (Lee Petty-since it was the first Daytona 500). It is the first win for the Wood Brothers Team since Elliott Sadler at Bristol in 2001. It is the first Daytona 500 since the track was repaved. It is the first restrictor plate race which prominently features the 2-car tandem draft instead of a large pack.

February 20th, 2015: Kurt Busch is suspended indefinitely by Nascar just 2 days before the Daytona 500 as there is sufficient evidence against the driver that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend last year in Delaware. Regan Smith is named as the replacement driver for the Daytona 500 as Busch faces yet another setback in his volatile career.

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Today in Nascar History February 21st:

Winners on this date: Lee Petty, Junior Johnson, Bobby Isaac, Dave Marcis, Neil Bonnett, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin.

February 21st, 1948: Louis Ossinski, Bill France's aide and an attorney by trade, finishes the paperwork and makes the organization known as Nascar an official corporate entity.




February 21st, 1954: Tim Flock wins the race at the Daytona Beach Road Course but is disqualified, giving Lee Petty the victory. A furious Flock quits Nascar.




February 21st, 1982: Dave Marcis stays out at Richmond as it begins raining at lap 250 of 400. Nascar calls the race giving Marcis an upset victory. Marcis was the only driver on the lead lap who chose to stay out under the yellow for rain.




February 21st, 2010: Jimmie Johnson takes advantage of a timely caution which puts him in the lead late in the going and holds off a hard charging Kevin Harvick to take the win at California, the 48th of his career and 4th in the last 6 races at the track.

February 21st, 2015: Kyle Busch breaks his right leg and left foot in a vicious crash in the Saturday preliminary Xfinity series race at Daytona. Busch hits a concrete barrier head on on the inside of the speedway leading to a cry for SAFER walls everywhere. One of Nascar's biggest stars, Busch is expected to be sidelined for at least a few months if not more.

February 21st, 2016: Denny Hamlin comes from 4th place on the last lap and beats Martin Truex Jr to the line in a photo finish to win his 1st career Daytona 500. The finish is the closest in Daytona 500 history.

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Today in Nascar History February 22nd:

Winners on this date: Lee Petty, Junior Johnson, Johnny Rutherford, Pete Hamilton, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, and Matt Kenseth (2 times).

February 22nd, 1959: The first Daytona 500 is run on the brand new Daytona International Speedway. Johnny Beauchamp is flagged as the winner of the event. Beauchamp finishes side by side in a photo finish with Lee Petty, who most observers feel won the event. Bill France declares the results unofficial and decides to review photographs to make a choice on the outcome.




February 22nd, 1963: Open wheel driver Johnny Rutherford takes the win in the 2nd 100 mile qualifying race at Daytona. Rutherford becomes only the 6th driver to win in their first career Cup start.




February 22nd, 1970: Pete Hamilton, driving a Petty Enterprises car, takes the upset win in the Daytona 500, passing David Pearson with 9 laps remaining and holding on to the victory.




February 22nd, 2004: Matt Kenseth beats Kasey Kahne to the line in a thrilling photo finish at Rockingham. It is the last Cup Series race held at the historic North Carolina track.





February 22nd, 2009: Matt Kenseth, fresh off his Daytona 500 win, makes it 2 for 2 by winning at California. It is Kenseth's 3rd Spring race victory at the track in the last 4 years.