Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway

History

• 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 July race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires. The second Daytona race has been held under the lights ever since.

Notebook

• There have been 129 NASCAR Sprint Cup races since the track hosted its first race in 1959: 53 have been 500 miles, 49 were 400 miles and four 250 miles. There were also 23 qualifier races that were point 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 inaugural 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 at Daytona.
• Cale Yarborough leads all drivers with 12 poles at Daytona.
• Bill Elliott leads all active drivers with five poles at Daytona.
• 54 drivers have won at Daytona.
• Richard Petty leads all drivers in victories at Daytona with 10.
• Jeff Gordon has six victories at Daytona, 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; the last to do it was Kevin Harvick in last year’s Coke Zero 400.
• A driver has swept both races at Daytona only four times, most recently by Bobby Allison in 1982.

 

NASCAR in Florida

• There have been 169 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Florida.
• 165 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series have their home state recorded as Florida.
• There have been nine race winners whose hometown is Florida in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Fireball Roberts	33	0	0
LeeRoy Yarbrough	14	0	0
Marshall Teague	7	0	0
Joe Nemechek	4	16	0
Bobby Johns	2	0	0
David Reutimann	2	1	1
Shorty Rollins	1	0	0
Rick Wilson	0	2	0
Aric Almirola	0	1	2

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TRACK RECORDS
Most Wins: 10 – Richard Petty
Most Poles: 12 – Cale Yarborough
Most Top Fives: 28 – Richard Petty
Most Top 10s: 37 – Richard Petty
Most Lead Changes: 74 – 2/2/20/11
Fewest Lead Changes: 6 – 2 times,
most recently 7/16/02 (non-qualifying races)
Most Leaders: 25 – 7/2/11
Fewest Leaders: 1 – 4 times, most recently 2/22/63
Most Cautions: 16 – 2/20/11
Fewest Cautions: 0 – 7 times, most recently 2/18/62
Most Caution Laps: 60 – 2 times, most recently 2/20/11
Fewest Caution Laps: 0 – 7 times, most recently 2/18/62
Most on the Lead Lap: 34 – 7/1/06
Fewest on the Lead Lap: 1 – 8 times,most recently 2/15/76
Most Running at the Finish: 41 – 2 times,most recently 7/7/07
Fewest Running at the Finish: 11 – 7/4/63
Most Laps Led by a Race Winner: 184 – 2/23/64
Fewest Laps Led by a Race Winner: 1 – 4 times,most recently 7/2/94
Most Wins by a Manufacturer: 40 – Chevrolet
Closest Margin of Victory: 0.005 Seconds – 7/7/07
Greatest Margin of Victory: 4.102 Seconds – 7/5/03
Margins of Victory under electronic timing since 1993.
-----------------

STARTING POSITIONS OF RACE WINNERS


Races won from Pos. No. 1...............25

Races won from Pos. No. 2...............19

Races won from Pos. No. 3...............11

Races won from Pos. No. 4...............11

Races won from Pos. No. 5.................4

Races won from Pos. No. 6.................7

Races won from Pos. No. 7.................7

Races won from Pos. No. 8.................6

Races won from Pos. No. 9...............10

Races won from Pos. No. 10...............1

Races won from Pos. No. 11...............2

Races won from Pos. No. 12...............4

Races won from Pos. No. 13...............4

Races won from Pos. No. 14...............1

Races won from Pos. No. 15...............5

Races won from Pos. No. 19...............4

Races won from Pos. No. 21...............1

Races won from Pos. No. 30...............1

Races won from Pos. No. 32...............2

Races won from Pos. No. 33...............1

Races won from Pos. No. 34...............1

Races won from Pos. No. 38...............1

Races won from Pos. No. 39...............1

RACES WON FROM POLE (17 of 106)

Fireball Roberts ..................1959, 1962

Jack Smith ...................................1960

Richard Petty ................................1966

Cale Yarborough........1968, 1981, 1984

David Pearson ..............................1974

Buddy Baker.................................1980

Bill Elliott ............................1985, 1987

Jeff Gordon.........................1999, 2004

Dale Jarrett ..................................2000

Tony Stewart ......................2005, 2009

Kevin Harvick ...............................2010

DAYTONA QUALIFYING RACE (1959-71)

WINS FROM POLE (8 of 23)

Fireball Roberts ..................1961, 1962

Darel Dieringer .............................1965

Cale Yarborough ...........................1970

B. Issac.........................................1969

Junior Johnson.............................1965

Joe Weatherly...............................1961

Jack Smith ...................................1960
Note: From 1959-71 qualifying
event winners were credited with a
points-paying series win. From 1959-
67 qualifying event distance was 100
miles. From 1968-2003 qualifying
event distance was 125 miles. Starting
in 2005 qualifying event distance was150 miles.

Danica Patrick’s Impact on 2012 NASCAR Season

Atlanta Motor Speedway President Ed Clark Gives His Thoughts on


Danica Patrick’s Impact on 2012 NASCAR Season

HAMPTON, Ga. (Feb. 10, 2012) – With a new NASCAR season preparing to unfold on the Florida coast, many new storylines emerge as compelling elements to the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series campaign.
Arguably the biggest hot-button topic throughout the sport is the arrival of Danica Patrick to the NASCAR ranks. The open-wheel veteran will compete full-time for the Nationwide Series championship with JR Motorsports after running part-time for the past two seasons. She will also begin to dip her toe into the ranks of the Sprint Cup Series by running 10 races for Stewart-Haas Racing.
In recent years, several open-wheel drivers have made the attempt to crossover into NASCAR, with little-to-no success. But Atlanta Motor Speedway President and General Manager Ed Clark thinks that Patrick is setup for success unlike many of those before her.
“Other than the time period that A.J. Foyt drove for the Wood Brothers, I don’t know that there has been another person to come over from the Indy Car ranks to have the caliber of equipment for multiple events that she’s going to have at JR Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing,” Clark said. “She’s got a great opportunity to set some new career marks that other people have not been able to do.”
Aside from the equipment, Patrick will have the added benefit of being surrounded by quality people at Stewart-Haas, with veteran crew chief Greg Zipadelli calling the shots on the No. 10 Chevrolet and team owner Tony Stewart offering valuable input during her journey. Patrick is also guaranteed a starting spot in the upcoming Daytona 500 due to a points-swap with Tommy Baldwin Racing, putting her in an atmosphere designed for success as she gets her Sprint Cup career started.
“She is just one element in one overall operation . . . Other than the pressure she’s putting on herself, it’ll be a stress-free qualifying situation where she can be comfortable and get it all out of the car week-in and week-out,” Clark said.
While Sprint Cup racing will be a growing process with bumps along the way, Patrick has the chance to log some solid runs. While the impact on the competition will be seen on the track, Clark also thinks she will make an impact in the grandstands.
“You take her charisma and intensity and competitive nature and you throw in what she’s been able to accomplish in Indy Cars, and it’s quite a curiosity factor,” Clark said. “People are going to want to pull for their favorite driver and see where they finish and then they’ll want to see where Danica finishes. Anytime you have that kind of added interest, it’s a big plus for the sport.”
Patrick will make her Atlanta Motor Speedway debut this Labor Day weekend when she runs in both the Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series races at the 1.54-mile facility. But it won’t be her first trip to the speedway. Atlanta played host to Patrick in January 2010 while she turned test laps in preparation for her initial stock car event, the 2010 Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA race in Daytona. The main focus of the day was practicing getting onto pit road for pit stops, something that brings Clark to remark that “people take that for granted, but if you haven’t done it, it’s a big part of having a good day at the track.
“To have her in both races is going to make the weekend pretty cool. I expect she’ll adapt and do real well here.”
NASCAR night racing returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway on Labor Day weekend, Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2012. Tickets for the AdvoCare 500 go on sale beginning Feb. 20. For more information, call the Atlanta Motor Speedway Ticket Office at (877) 9-AMS-TIX, (770) 946-4211 or visit www.atlantamotorspeedway.com.