February 06, 2008

OVER 50 YEARS BILL FRANCE'S DREAM OF DAREDEVIL DRIVERS CHALLENGING THE FASTEST OF TRACKS AT THE PINNACLE OF A TWO-WEEK FESTIVAL OF SPEED HAS TRULY BECOME THE GREAT AMERICAN RACE

Racing's starting line

From SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, March 7, 1955

TIM FLOCKTim Flock is best remembered as the man who drove with a monkey in his car for eight races in 1953, but his legacy is no laughing matter. His .212 career winning percentage (40 wins in...

RACING ON THE BRAND-NEW SUPERSPEEDWAY WAS FAST AND FURIOUS FROM THE GET-GO, WITH A WEEK OF TOP-GEAR ACTION CAPPED BY A THRILLING PHOTO-FINISH WIN BY A NASCAR LEGEND

The race for speed was on

FOR THE DRIVERS, THE BIG TRACK WAS GETTING TOO FAST TO BE FUN, BUT FOR FANS THE RACING WAS AS GREAT AS EVER, AND CALE YARBOROUGH STREAKED TO A NARROW WIN

HE RACED INTO THE 1990s AND STILL STANDS AS THE SPORT'S WINNINGEST DRIVER, BUT IT WAS IN THE '60s THAT KING RICHARD STAKED HIS CLAIM TO THE THRONE AND SEEMED TO PAINT ALL OF NASCAR IN PETTY BLUE

When NASCAR went nationwide

WHILE CALE YARBOROUGH TANGLED WITH THE ALLISON BROTHERS—ON THE TRACK AND THEN IN THE DIRT—CRAFTY OL' RICHARD PETTY SAILED BY TO CAPTURE HIS SIXTH DAYTONA 500

A LARGER-THAN-LIFE FIGURE IN AND OUT OF A CAR AND A NATURAL-BORN POLITICIAN, CALE YARBOROUGH—OR JUST CALE TO EVERYBODY DOWN SOUTH—WAS NASCAR'S ULTIMATE STRONGMAN

A new generation takes the lead

FIRST START, PHOTO FINISHThe inaugural Daytona 500, in 1959, ended in a dash to the checkered flag between Lee Petty (42) and Johnny Beauchamp that was too close to call. Though NASCAR deemed the...

AFTER A WINTER OF DILIGENT PREPARATION WITH HIS FATHER AND TWO BROTHERS, A LANKY GEORGIA CARROTTOP NAMED BILL ELLIOTT ROLLED INTO DAYTONA AND BLEW THE DOORS OFF THE OPPOSITION

AMONG THE MOST POPULAR DRIVERS OF HIS ERA, BOBBY ALLISON WALKED THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW—UNTIL YOU CROWDED HIM. THAT'S WHEN HE'D CROWD BACK AND DO WHATEVER IT TOOK TO WIN

Big E and the Big Time

EVEN THE INTIMIDATOR'S COMPETITORS SALUTED WHEN, AFTER TWO DECADES OF TRYING, DALE EARNHARDT FINALLY REACHED VICTORY LANE IN THE RACE THAT ALWAYS MEANT THE MOST TO HIM

FROM HARDSCRABBLE BEGINNINGS, HE RACED AND BANGED HIS WAY TO THE VERY TOP, BUT THE MAN KNOWN AS THE INTIMIDATOR REMAINED THE PUREST DRIVER NASCAR HAS EVER KNOWN

Hotter—and safer—than ever

THREE YEARS AFTER HIS FATHER'S DEATH IN THE GREAT AMERICAN RACE, DALE EARNHARDT JR. GRABBED A MEASURE OF SOLACE, AND HIS OWN SLICE OF STARDOM, WITH A THRILLING VICTORY

LOVE HIM OR HATE HIM—AND THERE ARE NASCAR FANS FIRMLY IN EACH CAMP—RACING'S WONDER BOY MADE WINNING HIS BUSINESS AND CHANGED THE WORLD OF STOCK CARS FOREVER

THE DAYTONA 500 IS MUCH MORE THAN JUST A RACE, BUT DON'T TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT. SOME OF THE SPORT'S MOST LOYAL FANS WILL TELL YOU WHAT MAKES THE TWO WEEKS OF DAYTONA SO SPECIAL

SOME OF THE RAREST ARTIFACTS FROM THE STORIED RACING HISTORY OF DAYTONA SIT LOCKED UP IN A FACILITY NOT FAR FROM DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, NEVER TO BE SEEN BY THE PUBLIC

WE HAVE SEEN NASCAR'S FUTURE, AND IT IS FILLED WITH AGELESS WONDERS, BOLD-FACED NAMES, ECO-FRIENDLY GO-GO JUICE AND AN IRON-FISTED CHAIRMAN. HEREWITH, A GLIMPSE INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL PUTS US...

THE FIRST 49 RACES OF THE 500 PRODUCED A MILLION THRILLS—AND SOME SURPRISING STATISTICS

TO JIMMIE JOHNSON, DAYTONA MEANS FEUDS, FANS AND GOING FLAT-OUT FAST