In advance of the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17, ESPN Classic will be televising six of the best Daytona 500 races of all time every Monday at 2:00pm/et through Feb. 11. On Monday, Jan. 21, ESPN Classic will air the 1990 Daytona 500. ESPN.com’s NASCAR page features a poll where viewers can log on to choose their favorite Daytona 500 from the six. Then, on Saturday night, Feb. 16, the night before the 2008 version of NASCAR’s biggest race, ESPN Classic will show the top five races as chosen by the fans in their order of preference, starting at 10pm/et.Ã Ã #3-Dale Earnhardt was all but the 500 winner in 1990 when his car blew a tire in turn 3 of the last lap, leading to an unlikely Daytona 500 victory for Derrike Cope. Cope cruised by Earnhardt to win the 500, his first career NASCAR win, and one of only two in his career, the other coming later that season [at Dover]. ESPN Classic will give NASCAR fans a chance to see the final NASCAR race at historic Riverside International Raceway with an airing of highlights of the 1988 Budweiser 400 Friday, Jan. 18, at 3:00am/et. Rusty Wallace, now ESPN’s lead auto racing analyst, was always a threat to win on road courses during his driving career and Wallace drove his Kodiak Pontiac to victory over Terry Labonte in the 400-kilometer race on the 2.62-mile circuit located east of Los Angeles. Ricky Rudd, Dale Earnhardt and Phil Parsons completed the top five in the race that was run June 12, 1988. Riverside held races for NASCAR’s top series from the early 1960s until 1988. The track closed in 1989 and a shopping mall now sits on part of the land.(ESPN PR)(1-14-2008)
