What? The 2009 Daytona 500
Where? Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
When? Sunday, February 15, 2009. 3:20 PM Eastern, 12:20 Pacific
TV Broadcast: FOX with Mike Joy, Larry Mc Reynolds and Darrell Waltrip. TV start scheduled for 2:00 PM Eastern, 11:00 AM Pacific.
TRACK DIMENSIONS
Length: 2.5 miles
Banking: A wicked steep 31 degrees in the turns, 3 degrees on the straights, 18 degrees on the tri-oval.
Front Stretch: 3,800 ft.
Back Stretch: 3,000 ft.
TRACK RECORDS & HISTORY
First Race: The 1959 Daytona 500
First Winner: Lee Petty won in a controversial photo finish over Johnny Beauchamp. The Petty Grand Patriarch was deemed the original runner-up to Beauchamp, but Petty protested. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. ginned up extra interest in the race by inviting every witness present with a camera to mail their photo in to help determine the winner. Days later, Petty was declared the winner.
“The King” Is King of Daytona- In NASCAR Cup competition, Richard Petty is the
all-time leader in wins at DIS with 10 (that’s all points wins, including the July race). Jeff Gordon leads active drivers with 4.
Cale Yarborough is the “King Of Poles” with 12 all-time. Among active drivers, Bill Elliott has 5.
The Fastest Qualifying Lap? “Awesome Bill” Elliott ran a time of 42.783 in 1987 at a speed of 210.364 miles per hour.. In this day and age of restrictor plate racing, we’ll never see that again. Compare that to Martin Truex’s pole winning lap at a speed just over 188 m.p.h.
Who ran the fastest race? Buddy Baker did that in the “500″, running a 2 hr. 48 minute and 55 second race in 1980. His speed? 177.602 m.p.h. The car was an Oldsmobile. Bobby Allison holds the record for the “400″ with a race time of 2 hrs., 18 minutes, and 21 sec. in 1980. Allison’s speed was 173.473 m.p.h. Allison was driving a Mercury.
Most lead changes: 59 in the 1974 Daytona 500. The Fewest: 4 (twice) most recently in the 1970 edition of the “Great American Race.”
Fewest Yellow Flags: 0- 7 times, most recently in Feb. 1962. Most Cautions: 60(!) in the 1968 Daytona 500.
34 drivers finished on the lead lap in the 2006 Pepsi 400. On 8 occasions, only 1 driver finished a race at Daytona on the lead lap, the most recent being David Pearson in the 1976 “500″ race.
41 drivers the record by completing the 2007 Pepsi 400. Only 11 finished the 1963 Firecracker 400 won by Fireball Roberts.
TRACK BUZZ
Anything can happen a restrictor plate track. For evidence, consider Kevin Harvick’s victory in the Bud Shoot Out. Until then, it looked like Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, or anyone else but Harvick. Even practices and qualifying has turned up a few surprises.
Bill Elliott and Mark Martin have been representing the Geritol set with good practice runs. Martin Truex and Juan Pablo Montoya’s pole qualifying laps suggest good early returns on the Earnhardt- Ganassi merger. Aric Almirola was fastest in Wednesday’s second practice. Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Robby Gordon rounded out the top of the leaderboard. In a practice incident, Kasey Kahne got loose, triggering an accident involving Michael Waltrip, Jamie McMurray, David Stremme. Norm Benning and Geoff Bodine clocked the slowest laps.
In first practice, the Dodges of Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch were raciest- followed by Sam Hornish Jr., Michael Waltrip and Casey Mears. Norm Benning and Kirk Shelmerdine were the slowest first practice cars. Ryan Newman blew a motor and will have to replace. Joey Logano pancaked the wall with his #20 Toyota.
Among those not gauranteed of starting Sunday- Regan Smith was 9th quickest in Wednesday’s second practice, A.J. Allmendinger was 15th, Mike Wallace 16th, Scott Riggs ran 19th.
In first practice, Mike Skinner was 15th in the #23, Jeremy Mayfield 17th, and Scott Riggs ran 24th.
NASCAR TERMINOLOGY
Your opportunity to learn terms that will help you impress your newbie friends at back yard barbecues this summer.
Draft- This has nothing to do with beer or military conscription, but “draft” is a slang term for something that Junior Johnson discovered in the 1960 Daytona 500, enabling him to win in spite of having a slower car. Draft in NASCAR-speak is: “…the aerodynamic effect that allows two or more cars traveling nose-to-tail to run faster than a single car. When one car follows another closely, the one in front cuts through the air, providing a cleaner path of air (that is, less resistance) for the car in back.”
RPM- Revolutions per minute. This is a measurement of speed for the engine’s crankshaft. Drivers don’t have speedometers in their cars, relying more on RPM’s to determine how fast their going.
Tachometer- This dashboard instrument enables drivers to measure RPM’s, assisting them in gear selection and monitoring engine power.
SOURCES: nascarmedia.com, the 2007 edition of the Sporting News’ Officially Licensed NASCAR Record and Fact Book, Jayski’s.
PHOTO CREDITS: Top photo by mlb523. Richard Petty by Ted Van Pelt. Daytona trackside by johnmiller 613. More of their photography may be found at flickr.com.
