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As the 50th running of the Daytona 500 approaches on Feb. 17, 2008, it’s a daunting task to try to select the top-five greatest finishes of “The Great American Race.”
From the inaugural Daytona 500 back in 1959 with the three-wide photo finish between Lee Petty, Johnny Beauchamp and the lapped car of Joe Weatherly to the 2007 Daytona 500 where Kevin Harvick nipped Mark Martin, the list of memorable moments are endless.
In no particular order, here’s a quick look at the top-five greatest finishes in Daytona 500 history:
1959: The inaugural Daytona 500 could go down as the longest race ever.
Lee Petty and Johnny Beauchamp were the only contenders for the victory as the race approached its conclusion.
As Petty and Beauchamp exchanged the lead in the final laps of the race, Joe Weatherly, whose car was two laps down, was able to latch on to the leaders’ draft.
On the final lap, when the leaders and Weatherly came off of Turn 4 to take the checkered flag, they were three wide with the lap car of Weatherly on the high side, Petty in the middle and Beauchamp at the bottom.
Both Petty and Beauchamp drove to Victory Lane and Beauchamp was declared the unofficial winner.
But Petty believed he won the Daytona 500 and evidence was building to support his case.
While Beauchamp was able to celebrate the win in Victory Lane after the race, Petty would actually be declared the winner 61 hours later after officials reviewed the still photos and newsreel footage.
1976: In a classic David Pearson-Richard Petty duel, the 1976 Daytona 500 produced one of the most incredible finishes in NASCAR history.
The showdown had been building for about 100 miles when Pearson, on the final lap, passed Petty on the Superstretch.
Exiting Turn 4, Petty had ducked low and passed Pearson but his car slightly drifted up the track and the two drivers touched and crashed. When both cars came to rest in the tri-oval grass, they still had not crossed the start/finish line.
Petty’s radiator was pushed back into the fan on the front of the engine and the car wouldn’t restart. But Pearson dumped the clutch and kept the car in neutral keeping it from stalling.
Pearson straightened out his damaged machine and slowly crossed the start/finish line to capture the only Daytona 500 victory of his career. The finish was the slowest under green flag conditions in Daytona 500 history.
1979: In the first live televised broadcast of the Daytona 500, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison were battling side-by-side for victory on the final lap of the Daytona 500.
But neither Yarbrough nor Allison ever made it to the checkered flag.
The two drivers were beating and banging on each other all the way down the Superstretch and crashed entering Turn 3.
A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip were about a half lap behind the two embattled leaders. Foyt checked up once he saw the caution light while Petty and Waltrip passed him.
Petty and Waltrip battled for the victory with Petty holding on for his sixth Daytona 500 win.
Meanwhile back in Turn 3, one of the landmark moments in the history of NASCAR took place as Yarborough and Allison began a heated debate that turned into a fist fight with Allison’s brother Bobby jumping into the fray.
1998: After 20 years of trying, Dale Earnhardt finally captured his elusive Daytona 500 victory.
To kick off NASCAR’s 50th anniversary celebration, Earnhardt ended one of sports’ greatest jinxes leading 107 laps, including the final 61, winning the 1998 Daytona 500 under caution.
Following his victory, crew members lined pit road to congratulate him on his victory, a gathering that has never been done before or since in NASCAR races.
Following the procession, Earnhardt treated fans to doughnuts in the grassy tri-oval creating a No. 3 in the grass.
As Earnhardt was performing his post-race media interviews, fans were grabbing pieces of grass and posing for pictures.
2007: The most recent Daytona 500 could have produced the most thrilling Daytona 500 finish in the history of race.
Kevin Harvick, who started seventh on the final green-white-checkered restart, nipped Mark Martin at the start/finish line to capture the 49th annual Daytona 500. The margin of victory -- .020 seconds – was the closest Daytona 500 finish since the advent of computer scoring in 1993 and the eighth closest in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series overall.
While Harvick beat Martin to the checkers, a multi-car accident broke out with Clint Bowyer’s No. 07 Chevrolet flipping upside down and catching fire as he crossed the start/finish line.
Martin was attempting to win his first Daytona 500 on his 23rd start and said the lack of drafting help coming off of Turn 4 proved the difference at the finish.
Harvick’s victory was Richard Childress Racing’s first Daytona 500 win since Dale Earnhardt in 1998 and he also set a couple of Daytona 500 records in the process.
• His four laps led tied 1975 Daytona 500 champion Benny Parsons for the fewest laps led by a Daytona 500 winner.
• His starting position of 34th was the lowest starting position of a Daytona 500 winner.
• He became the fifth driver to win both the Daytona 500 and the Camping World 300 presented by Chevrolet NASCAR Busch Series race in the same year.
Tickets for the 50th running of the Daytona 500 and other DirecTV Speedweeks events are still available by calling 1-800-PITSHOP or by calling www.racetickets.com
