⢠Groundbreaking for Daytona International Speedway was Nov. 25, 1957. The soil underneath the banked corners was dug from the infield of the track and the hole filled with water. It is now known as Lake Lloyd.
⢠The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona was a 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, 1959.
⢠Richard Petty won his 200th career race on July 4, 1984 at Daytona.
⢠Lights were installed in the spring of 1998. However, the race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires. The second Daytona race has been held under lights ever since.
⢠For only the second time in its history, Daytona International Speedway was repaved in 2010. The project began on Monday, July 5, 2010.
⢠There have been 128 NASCAR Sprint Cup races since the track hosted its first race in 1959: 53 have been 500 miles, 48 were 400 miles and four 250 miles. There were also 23 qualifying races that were points races.
⢠Fireball Roberts won the inaugural pole at Daytona.
⢠Bob Welborn won the first race at Daytona, the 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500.
⢠Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959.
⢠Fireball Roberts won the first 400-mile race at Daytona, the 1963 Firecracker 400.
⢠53 drivers have posted poles; 20 have more than one.
⢠Cale Yarborough leads all drivers with 12 poles.
⢠Bill Elliott leads all active drivers with five poles; followed by Jeff Gordon and Ken Schrader, with three.
⢠55 drivers have won a race; 26 have won more than once.
⢠Richard Petty leads all drivers in victories, with 10.
⢠Jeff Gordon has six victories, more than any other active driver.
⢠The Wood Brothers have won 15 races at Daytona, more than any other car owner.
⢠17 full-length races at Daytona have been won from the pole, including last year’s Coke Zero 400, won by polesitter Kevin Harvick.
⢠A driver has swept both races at Daytona only four times, most recently by Bobby Allison, in 1982.
⢠The last 11 Daytona races that finished under green have had a margin of victory under a half second.
(NASCAR)(6-28-2011)
