The Daytona 500 has been NASCAR’s marquee race since its beginning in 1959.

The giant Daytona International Speedway, built by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. to replace racing on the Daytona Beach shore, was like nothing stock car racers had seen. Darlington Raceway had opened in 1950 as NASCAR’s first big asphalt track, but Daytona was in its own league – 2.5 miles long and high-banked, producing speeds and tight competition that changed the game. Two Seater Dune Buggy

Over the years, what became known as the “Great American Race” has seen close finishes, spectacular accidents, the evolution of high-speed drafting and, unfortunately, the loss of one of stock car racing’s all-time greats.

As another Daytona 500 beckons, here’s a look at 10 historic moments from the race’s history:

The 65th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday is not short of storylines, ranging from those trying to score their first win in this event to the talented list of drivers just trying to make the 40-car field.

Here are some things to watch this week at Daytona International Speedway:

Dale Earnhardt won his lone Daytona 500 in his 20th start in the race, the record for most starts by a driver before winning this race. 

Martin Truex Jr. will make his 19th career Daytona 500 start Sunday. Kyle Busch will make his 18th career start in the race. Brad Keselowski will make his 14th career start in the Daytona 500. None has won this race.

Truex lost the 2016 race by 0.01 seconds, the closest finish in Daytona 500 history. He has not finished better than 13th in this race since that day.

Busch, who is with Richard Childress Racing after having spent the last 15 seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing, has led 324 laps in the Daytona 500, the most by a driver who has not won the 500. He finished second in the 2019 race by .138 seconds. B usch finished sixth in last year’s race. He’s never had back-to-back top 10s in the Daytona 500.

Keselowski has won six times at Talladega and the summer Daytona race once but has never finished better than third in the Daytona 500.

Hendrick Motorsports has eight Daytona 500 victories — second in series history to Petty Enterprises’ nine — but has not won the race since Dale Earnhardt Jr. did in 2014. 

Hendrick Motorsports has won the Daytona 500 only twice since 2007 (Jimmie Johnson in 2013 and Earnhardt in 2014). Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing both have three Daytona 500 wins during that time.

Only once since 2016 has Hendrick Motorsports had a car finish the Daytona 500 in the top five. Chase Elliott placed second in 2021 to Michael McDowell.

Looking to bring Hendrick another Daytona 500 victory this year will be Elliott, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and William Byron.

Denny Hamlin is tied with NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Allison with three Daytona 500 wins. 

If Hamlin wins the race again, he will tie Cale Yarborough for second on the all-time victory list with four Daytona 500 triumphs. Richard Petty has a record seven Daytona 500 victories. 

Hamlin has seven top-five finishes — including three wins — in the last nine of years of this race. 

Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney have both come close to winning the Daytona 500 but have yet to do so. They both nearly won this race last year.

Wallace finished second to Austin Cindric by .036 seconds. It marked the second time Wallace has finished runner-up in the Daytona 500. He also was second in the 2018 race, finishing 0.26 seconds behind Austin Dillon.

Blaney was in contention for the win last year before Cindric blocked him coming to the checkered flag and caused Blaney to hit the wall. Blaney finished fourth. He has twice finished second in the Daytona 500 (2017 to Kurt Busch and 2020 to Denny Hamlin). Blaney has won at Daytona, taking the checkered flag in the summer race in 2021.

Michael McDowell scored his first career Cup win when he took the checkered flag in the 2021 Daytona 500.

Rookie Austin Cindric scored his first career series win when he won this race a year ago. 

Neither driver was a favorite to win the year they did. Could there be another driver not viewed as a favorite to win the Daytona 500? 

This will be Kevin Harvick’s final Daytona 500. He’ll retire from Cup after this season and move to the Fox Sports booth next year. 

The 2007 Daytona 500 winner has finished in the top five twice in the last three years. 

Who gets in and who fails to make the Daytona 500 could be among the more fascinating storylines early in the week. 

There are four spots available for cars without charters. Six such cars are entered.

Those drivers are: Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson (Legacy Motor Club), action sports star Travis Pastrana (23XI Racing), IndyCar driver Conor Daly (The Money  Team Racing), reigning Craftsman Truck champion Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports), Xfinity rookie Chandler Smith (Kaulig Racing) and 2022 Xfinity rookie of the year Austin Hill (Beard Motorsports).

The two fastest non-chartered cars in Wednesday’s qualifying will be guaranteed a spot in the Daytona 500. The other two spots will be determined in Thursday’s qualifying race.

Forty-two cars are entered for Sunday’s Daytona 500, according to the preliminary entry list released by NASCAR on Monday.

Thirty-six cars are guaranteed starting spots in the race because they have charters. That means six drivers will vie for the remaining four spots in the Daytona 500 field. Those six drivers are: Jimmie Johnson (Legacy Motor Club), Travis Pastrana (23XI Racing), Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports), Chandler Smith (Kaulig Racing), Austin Hill (Beard Motorsports) and Conor Daly (The Money Team Racing).

The preliminary entry list has 43 cars but the No. 80 of Finishline Motorsports Marketing has withdrawn.

Riley Herbst, a full-time driver in the Xfinity Series, is entered in the No. 15 Cup car, which has a charter, for Rick Ware Racing.

The top two in Wednesday night’s qualifying, among the six non-chartered cars, will be guaranteed a spot in the Daytona 500. The other two spots will be determined in Thursday’s qualifying races.

The 65th Daytona 500 will be at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday on Fox.

Forty-four cars are entered for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Daytona. The race will have a 38-car field.

Justin Haley is the only full-time Cup driver entered. He will drive the No. 10 for Kaulig Racing.

The season opener marks the return to the Xfinity Series for Cole Custer, who will drive the No. 00 after running a full Cup schedule the past three seasons. He finished second in Xfinity points in 2018 and ’19.

This race marks Brandon Jones‘ first with JR Motorsports after moving there from Joe Gibbs Racing. Jones has finished in the top 10 in Xfinity points each of the past five seasons.

Forty-two trucks are entered for Friday night’s race at Daytona. The race will have a 36-truck field.

Chase Elliott and Corey LaJoie are the only full-time Cup drivers entered. Also entered are the past two series champions: Zane Smith (2022 champ) and Ben Rhodes (2021 champ). Smith won last year’s race. Rhodes was second.

Although this year’s Daytona 500 is just days away, the date for the next year’s Daytona 500 has been announced: Feb. 18, 2024.

Daytona International Speedway officials also stated that fans could begin renewing tickets for next year’s 500 and that exclusive pre-sale options are available. It is the first race date announced for the 2024 NASCAR Cup season.

Track officials also announced that all tickets to this year’s Daytona 500, which will be held at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, have been sold. It marks the eighth consecutive sellout for the event. Tickets remain for the other events at Daytona this week.

Harrison Burton admits there was a time when he was not a fan of Jimmie Johnson.

“I always hated Jimmie Johnson when I was a little kid because he would win all the races I wanted my dad to win and win the championships that, my dad, I wanted him to win,” Harrison Burton, son of Jeff Burton, told NBC Sports. 

“So, I have to beat him to avenge my dad, right?”

Harrison Burton is one of a handful of Cup drivers who have never raced against Johnson in NASCAR’s premier series. That will change this year with the seven-time champion returning to Cup for the first time since 2020 to run select events. Burton says he is looking forward to racing Johnson. 

“It’s really cool for a young guy like me to race someone that has won seven championships in our sport,” Burton said. “When you first get into Cup, that’s not even like a thought in your brain that I want to win seven championships one day. You just want to win your first race.”

Johnson has raced against 270 drivers in his Cup career, which began Oct. 7, 2001, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Once he competes against Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland this season, Johnson will have driven against 12 sets of fathers and sons in Cup, a list that includes Jarretts (Dale and Jason), Elliotts (Bill and Chase) and Earnhardts (Kerry and Jeffrey).

Johnson also has raced 12 sets of brothers in Cup, including Terry and Bobby Labonte, Kurt and Kyle Busch and Brad and Brian Keselowski. 

Johnson’s connection to the history of the sport is even deeper. He’s competed against 12 NASCAR Hall of Famers. Johnson also has raced in Cup against four Indianapolis 500 winners and seven drivers who competed in Formula One.

Gilliland, the son of David Gilliland, can’t wait for the opportunity to race Johnson, which could come in Sunday’s Daytona 500 — provided Johnson secures one of the four spots for non-chartered cars.

“I think racing against Jimmie Johnson, that will probably be one of the coolest things I’m ever going to get to do in racing,” Todd Gilliland told NBC Sports.  

“Growing up around the sport, I was watching in the 2000s era and he was the guy. He was literally dominating every single year. I was definitely a fan of him.”

One moment stands out most to Gilliland about Johnson. Gilliland, who was racing in what was then known as the K&N Pro Series West, was walking with his father at Daytona when they came across Johnson.

“‘Man, you’ve been doing good Todd,’” Gilliland recalls Johnson telling him.

“I was like, ‘You know my name’ or something like that. I was just amazed at how nice he was. I’m definitely hoping to get to race against him.”

Among those who have yet to race against Johnson are last year’s Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe and rookies Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson, who is a teammate to Johnson at Legacy Motor Club.

Cindric has gotten to know Johnson through the times they’ve raced go-karts. He looks forward to racing the driver he considers the greatest in the NASCAR.

“I think Jimmie Johnson is the greatest of all time because of the format changes, the car changes and the dominance in such a short amount of time, winning all those races,” Cindric told NBC Sports.

Cindric doesn’t just want to share the track with Johnson, though. He wants to race him.

“I want to see how he handles himself in those types of situations,” Cindric said. “It’s going to be new for him, racing the Next Gen car. He spent the last couple of years at a pretty steep learning curve in IndyCar and I have a lot of respect for that. Looking forward to it. Hopefully, we can trade some paint.”

Gragson has the opportunity to race against Johnson as a fellow competitor but also see how Johnson does things as a teammate.

“It’s going to be an incredible opportunity for a young guy like myself … a rookie to be able to lean on a seven-time champion,” Gragson told NBC Sports. “Incredible person, friend, mentor that Jimmie has become to myself.

Racing Go Kart “He’s probably going to be pretty over me by the time we get to the Daytona 500 because I just keep wearing him out with questions and trying to pick his brain.”