Tuesday Facts

This is Speedweeks. For all those that don't know, it means basically the start of racing season and the 55th running of the Daytona 500. Here are some quick facts about the race.

The first Daytona 500 was held on February 22, 1959.

Richard "The King" Petty has the most Daytona 500 victories at 7. (1964, 66, 71, 73, 74, 79, 81)

The fastest winning race average speed was set by Buddy Baker in the 1980 Daytona 500 at 177.602 mph.

The slowest winning race average speed was set by Junior Johnson in 1960 at 124.740 mph.

The youngest driver to win was Trevor Bayne in 2011 at the age of 20 years, 0 months and 1 day.

The oldest driver to win was Bobby Allison in 1988 at the age of 50 years, 2 months and 11 days.

The only driver to win the Daytona 500 on one set of tires was Tiny Lund on February 24th 1963. This was Lund's first Sprint Cup victory out of 5 career victories.

The last 10 winners of the race (started):
2013 - Jimmie Johnson (9th)
2012 - Matt Kenseth (4th)
2011 - Trevor Bayne (32nd)
2010 - Jamie McMurray (13th)
2009 - Matt Kenseth (qualified 39th - due to changing to a back-up car, started 43rd)
2008 - Ryan Newman (7th)
2007 - Kevin Harvick (34th)
2006 - Jimmie Johnson (9th)
2005 - Jeff Gordon (15th)
2004 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. (3rd)

22 - The number of most wins by a manufacturer (Chevrolet - Still active in sport)

Only on 9 occasions has the winner of the Daytona 500 won from the pole position. The last driver to do so was Dale Jarrett on February 20th, 2000.

Family Winners:
Father Lee Petty (1) and Son Richard Petty (7)
Father Bobby Allison (3) and Son Davey Allison (1)
Father Dale Earnhardt (1) and Son Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1) - Both victories came on February 15th
Brothers Darrell (1) and Michael Waltrip (2)