NASCAR Daytona 500 well known as the ‘stock car Super Bowl’ will celebrate its 65th event since its inception in 1959. The 65th event of The Great American Race is set to kick off this weekend on 19th Feb.
Since its inauguration, The Great American Race has been held at the historic Daytona International Speedway running every February of the year. Despite being one of the most valued races in stock car history, the Daytona 500 marks the first point race of the NASCAR Cup Series since 1982.
The race features 200 laps around the 2.5-mile tri-oval track running 500 miles and it’s one of the two Cup Series events held at Daytona International Speedway every year. NASCAR has recorded 47 different winners since its inception with over five drivers taking it more than once.
Richard Petty the son of Lee Petty stands as the only driver to ever win the Daytona 500 seven times including a back-to-back trophy in 1973 and 1974. His father, Lee Petty was the first driver to Daytona 500 in 1959 and Richard Petty went on to win his first win in 1964 then 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, and 1981.
Cale Yarborough also did a tremendous job during his era winning the title four times including a back-to-back win in 1983 and 1984. In NASCAR history only four drivers have managed to win two Dayton 500 in a row, Richard Petty in 1973 and 1974, Cale Yarborough in 1983 and 1984, Sterling Marlin in 1994 and 1995, and finally, Denny Hamlin in 2019 and 2020.
Currently, Denny Hamlin is the only active driver who has tasted victory more than twice. Jimmie Johnson has two wins and he will be competing in the upcoming event but he’s currently a part-time driver after retiring in 2020. On top of that, non of the active drivers have ever managed to win a Daytona 500 title and a Championship in the same season. The last driver to accomplish this was Jimmie Johnson who will be running as a part-time driver this season.
Below we analyze the full list of Daytona 500 winners from 1959 to 2022.
List of Daytona 500 Winners: All Daytona 500 Winners In History
Year Driver Starting Position
1959 Lee Petty 15th
1960 Junior Johnson 9th
1961 Marvin Panch 4th
1962 Fireball Roberts Pole
1963 Tiny Lund 12th
1964 Richard Petty 2nd
1965 Fred Lorenzen 4th
1966 Richard Petty Pole
1967 Mario Andretti 12th
1968 Cale Yarborough Pole
1969 LeeRoy Yarbrough 19th
1970 Pete Hamilton 9th
1971 Richard Petty 5th
1972 A. J. Foyt 2nd
1973 Richard Petty 7th
1974 Richard Petty 2nd
1975 Benny Parsons 32nd
1976 David Pearson 7th
1977 Cale Yarborough 4th
1978 Bobby Allison 33rd
1979 Richard Petty 13th
1980 Buddy Baker Pole
1981 Richard Petty 8th
1982 Bobby Allison 7th
1983 Cale Yarborough 8th
1984 Cale Yarborough Pole
1985 Bill Elliott Pole
1986 Geoffrey Bodine 2nd
1987 Bill Elliott Pole
1988 Bobby Allison 3rd
1989 Darrell Waltrip 2nd
1990 Derrike Cope 12th
1991 Ernie Irvan 2nd
1992 Davey Allison 6th
1993 Dale Jarrett 2nd
1994 Sterling Marlin 4th
1995 Sterling Marlin 3rd
1996 Dale Jarrett 7th
1997 Jeff Gordon 6th
1998 Dale Earnhardt 4th
1999 Jeff Gordon Pole
2000 Dale Jarrett Pole
2001 Michael Waltrip 19th
2002 Ward Burton 19th
2003 Michael Waltrip 4th
2004 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3rd
2005 Jeff Gordon 15th
2006 Jimmie Johnson 9th
2007 Kevin Harvick 34th
2008 Ryan Newman 7th
2009 Matt Kenseth 43rd
2010 Jamie McMurray 13th
2011 Trevor Bayne 32nd
2012 Matt Kenseth 4th
2013 Jimmie Johnson 9th
2014 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 9th
2015 Joey Logano 5th
2016 Denny Hamlin 11th
2017 Kurt Busch 8th
2018 Austin Dillon 14th
2019 Denny Hamlin 10th
2020 Denny Hamlin 39th
2021 Michael McDowell 17th
2022 Austin Cindric 5th