In the modern era, man has quested after the need for speed.
Earliest locomotion awoke this need. For
many decades sleeker and faster bicycles were the way to go faster and
faster. As those gave way to
automobiles, people realized they could go really fast. One of the places where they went fast were
on the hard packed sands of the beach at Daytona, Daytona Beach, Florida, that
is.
In 1959, the constant races became an annual ritual, as the
Daytona 500 was run for the first time.
Initially longer races held at Daytona were still using the beach, and
an adjacent section of highway, which was laid out to form an oval racecourse. The Daytona International Speedway opened in
time to host the first Daytona 500, and has been its home since then. The event is considered to be the opening of
the Cup series each year. It is always held in February, and often coincides
with the "President's Day" weekend.
The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most important and
prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar, carrying by far the largest purse.
Championship points awarded are equal to that of any other Monster Energy
NASCAR Cup Series race. It is also the series' first race of the year; this
phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or
other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since 1995,
U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto
race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500 which
in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and
international viewing.
Last week, we mentioned the racing festival which has been
held in Daytona all week; the race serves as the final event of Speedweeks and
is sometimes known as "The Great American Race" or the "Super
Bowl of Stock Car Racing."
The winner of the Daytona 500 is presented with the Harley J.
Earl Trophy in Victory Lane, and the winning car is displayed in race-winning
condition for one year at Daytona 500 Experience, a museum and gallery adjacent
to Daytona International Speedway.
Austin Dillon is the defending winner of the Daytona 500,
having won it in 2018. Austin Dillon,
nicknamed, "The Ace", was born on April 27, 1990, in Welcome, North
Carolina. He is the son of former driver
and RCR general manager Mike Dillon, older brother of Ty Dillon and grandson of
Richard Childress. He currently competes full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR
Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing,
and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro
SS for RCR. After winning NASCAR Rookie
of the Year in the Truck Series in 2010, Dillon won the Truck Series
championship in 2011, and later the Nationwide Series championship in 2013,
also one year after his Rookie of the Year title in 2012. He holds the record
for most consecutive poles in the Nationwide Series with four. He won last
year's race in overtime.
William Byron will start from the pole alongside Hendrick
Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman. The
21-year-old, Byron, will seek to become the first driver in nearly 20 years to
win The Great American Race from the pole position. And while Dale Jarrett was
the last to do it in 2000, it was exactly 20 years ago that Jeff Gordon won
both the Daytona 500 pole and race in the same No. 24 car for the same team.
Byron is listed at 40-to-1 to take the checkered flag, the
same odds Austin Dillon had when he won the race last year. This time around,
Dillon comes in at 30-to-1.
The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most important and
prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar, carrying by far the largest purse.
Championship points awarded are equal to that of any other Monster Energy
NASCAR Cup Series race. It is also the series' first race of the year; this
phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or
other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since 1995,
U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto
race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500 which
in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and
international viewing. 
The winner of the Daytona 500 is presented with the Harley J.
Earl Trophy in Victory Lane, and the winning car is displayed in race-winning
condition for one year at Daytona 500 Experience, a museum and gallery adjacent
to Daytona International Speedway.