51st Running of the Daytona 500

Ok NASCAR fans, today is the day! The start of the 2009 race season (well, the first official race). As usual, we start the season with the running of the Daytona 500!

The Daytona 500 is steeped in great history! Here's a brief rundown of the very 1st Daytona 500:

The First Daytona 500
On February 22, 1959, Daytona International
Speedway hosted the first Daytona 500. The posted awards for the “500-Mile
International Sweepstakes” totaled $67,760. A field of 59 cars took the green
flag for the start of the 200-lap race. A crowd of 41,000 was on hand to witness
the beginning of another chapter in the history of racing in Daytona.
The
finish of the race also went into the history books. The finish was too close to
call, but Johnny Beauchamp went to Victory Lane and savored the celebration
although the results were posted as “unofficial.”
Sixty-one hours later, Lee
Petty was the winner in what appeared to be a dead heat between Petty and
Beauchamp – with the lapped car of Joe Weatherly making it a three-wide finish
at the checkered flag. A clip of newsreel footage proved that Petty was the
winner by a few feet. (Taken from Daytona500.com "Brief History of the 500" read more about Daytona 500 history here).

Also make sure to take a walk down memory lane and check out the 50 previous winners!

The race starts at 2:00 pm EST, but of course the Daytona 500 warrants huge pre-race festivities! So, grab your snacks and get ready to cheer on your favorite driver!

My cheers will be focused on car #88, driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. He will be starting in row 7, 14th position in his chevy Amp Energy/National Guard car!


Go Junebug!
So..."Gentlemen start your engines!" We're ready!