The Daytona 500, also known as "The Great American Race", is the first race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Held annually in February, it is considered to be the most important race of the season. The biggest names in racing are there competing for the richest purse in motorsports as well as for the prestige and monetary rewards that winning brings.The winner's hand prints, right foot, and autograph are immortalized in cement on the Daytona 500 Champions' Walk of Fame and the car is put on display at the Daytona 500 Experience.http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/News/DAYTONA-500-History.aspx

The winner is awarded the Harley J. Earl Trophy, named after theGeneral Motors designer who created the Firebird One in 1954. The actual Harley J. Earl Trophy is kept on display at the Daytona 500 Experience with the names of the all of the winners. The race winner is given a replica trophy with a smaller icon of the Firebird One. The Cannonball Baker Trophy is award to the winning crew chief. The trophy is named after Cannonball Baker, who in 1948, was elected the first national commissioner of NASCAR. The owner of the victorious car is awarded the Governor's Cup.http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/News/DAYTONA-500-History/Trophy-History.aspx

The 2010 Daytona 500 is over. Finally. Jamie McMurray took the checkered flag beating Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by .119 seconds. The 52nd Daytona 500 set a lot of records, most of which are those that NASCAR fans hope will not be broken. It was the longest ever, lasting a little over 6 1/2 hours. McMurray let the race for a total of 2 laps, of course, the most important laps, laps 207 and 208. It was the farthest 500 miles driven, 508 miles, 208 laps. And it had 52 lead changes with 21drivers.

The green flag was waived at 1:19pm ET. The first crash occurred on the 7th lap when 6 cars, 2 of which were from the Penske team, were involved in an accident when Brad Keselowski lost control of his car due to a tire problem. He and teammate Sam Hornish, Jr. sustained vehicle damage, although both returned to the race. When Keselowski returned, he was 34 laps down, and Hornish was 48 down. Kurt Busch, the third member of the team, finished 23rd in the race. Also involved in the accident was Regan Smith, Mike Bliss, Boris Said, and Max Papis. This was the biggest crash of the race.

2 hours and 24 minutes of the race was about exciting as watching guys fix a pothole....What's that you said? That's because the fans were watching guys fix a pothole!? That's right. A pothole between turns 1 and 2. The track workers were having a difficult time trying to fix it because the heavy rain from the previous nights and the drop in temperature to around 40 degrees prevented the usual fixes from being effective. Darrell Waltrop tried to keep the audience entertained with bathroom stop stories, and commented on having eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the track that day. Interviews with drivers also confirmed their frustrations about getting back to the race. Some suggested putting orange cones around the hole or putting barriers around it. That would certainly add a new dimension to the "Great American Race." They are, after all, the best drivers in the world, and everyone who has driven 500 miles knows that potholes and construction zones are always a part of the journey.

The new 3 restart rule did in fact help McMurray claim the championship. He won on the second green-white-checkered flag attempt. Previously, the drivers had only one chance to restart the race.

The 2010 Daytona 500 does not seem like it will be consequential to the 2010 NASCAR season.http://paddocktalk.com/news/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=128329

In 1959, the founder of NASCAR, Bill France, Sr. commissioned the building of a race track, the likes of which no one had imagined. It was two and 1/2 miles around, with high-banked turns. He named it "Daytona International Speedway. Daytona had been the site of car competitions, prior to the new facility, but the races were run on France's beachfront property. On Feb. 22, 1959, 41,921 people paid $8.00 to watch the 59 cars vie for the $67,760 total purse. The race lasted 3 hours and 41 minutes, with no caution flags. It was a tight finish between Johnny Beauchamp and Lee Petty, patriarch of the Petty racing family. 61 hours later, after examining still pictures taken at the race and news reels, Petty was declared the winner by a few feet. It's fitting that the first race of the 500 Mile NASCAR International Sweepstakes (which it was called then) would be a prelude to the many exciting Daytona 500 races that have since occurred.http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/02/16/first.daytona.500/index.html

Although there are differing opinions regarding which race was the best Daytona-500 ever, most fans agree that the 1998 Daytona 500 ranks up there. Dale Earnhardt finally got the checkered flag after 20 years of disappointment. He led the final 61 laps of the race, and when a caution was called on lap 198, he coasted into Victory Lane.

The 2007 Daytona 500 is one of the most electrifying in recent memory, when Kevin Harvick barely passed Mark Martin at the finish line with the margin of victory being determined by computer scoring of .020 seconds. As Harvick and Martin were fighting for the win, several other cars were involved in an accident. Clint Bowyer's Chevy flipped upside down and was ablaze as he crossed the finish line.

Honorable mentions go to the 1981 Richard Petty win after the four leaders, Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Ricky Rudd, and Dale Earnhardt made pit stops on lap 174, each taking approximately 17 seconds. Petty pitted on lap 176 for one gallon of gas and was out in 7 seconds. The 10 second disparity was all The King needed to take the victory.

The 1988 Daytona 500 will be remebered when the father-son team of Bobby and Davey Allison came in 1st and 2nd respectively. Darrell Waltrop's engine gave out with 14 laps remaining. The Allison boys went on to take the race.

But probably the most memorialized Daytona 500 is the 2001 race. It was won by Michael Waltrop with 2nd going to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. In the last lap, Dale, Sr. was involved in an accident when his car was bumped and he went into the 4th turn wall. He was then hit by the car of Kenny Schroeder, both of them landing in the grassy infield. Earnhardt was killed in the accident.http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/02/04/D500.memorable.moments/index.html

A Little Daytona 500 Trivia

• Fastest Winning Speed: 177.602 mph, Buddy Baker (1980)
• Slowest Winning Speed: 124.740 mph, Junior Johnson (1960)
• Youngest Winner: 25 years, 6 months, 12 days, Jeff Gordon (1997)
• Oldest Winner: 50 years, 2 months, 11 days, Bobby Allison (1988)

http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/News/DAYTONA-500-History/DAYTONA-500-Records.aspx

The 2009 Daytona 500 was won by Matt Kenseth. Kenseth was in the lead when the race was called because of rain. 152 of the 200 laps had been completed. It was the fourth time that the race had been called because of rain. After a 36-winless streak, Kenseth took the checkered flag after gaining the lead from Elliott Sadler. Aric Amerola spun out and a caution was called. It started to rain and the drivers were sent to Pit Row to wait out the storm. He started the race from the 39th position, the worst starting position in the 51 year Daytona 500 history to win the race. But even this shortened version of the race was not without controversy when Dale Earnhardt, Jr took exception to the driving of Brian Vickers and some say Earnhardt retaliated, causing an accident. They both blamed each other for the pile up in lap 124. The race had been delayed because of rain, and when the drivers restarted, Vickers and Earnhardt, Jr. were the front starters, but both were a lap down. Jr. tried to pass Vickers, but was blocked and forced below the double yellow lines. He moved back to the right and clipped the left -rear of Vickers. As Vickers went sideways, 10 cars were involved in a collision in which many of the top contenders were eliminated. Kyle Busch who led for 88 laps, and thought to have the best car on the track was part of the melee. Earnhardt wes not penalized for the action, though some believe that he should have been.http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=blount_terry&id=3909523