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5 Daytona 500 Greats

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2008

Richard Petty

The history books barely mention Petty completed only eight laps and finished 57th in the inaugural 500. But why should they? NASCAR's all-time leading winner went on to win the Daytona 500 a record seven times: 1964, '66, '71, '73, '74, '79 and '81. Petty won in four different makes of car - Plymouth, Dodge, Oldsmobile and Buick - finished ahead of six different runners-up and led at least one lap in 20 Daytona 500s.

Cale Yarborough

The son of a tobacco farmer who became an all-state high school running back in South Carolina, Yarborough's four 500 victories are second only to Richard Petty's seven. Yarborough won in 1968, '77, '83 and '84. He might have won in 1979, but Donnie Allison blocked his attempted "slingshot" pass on the final lap, and the two leaders crashed. In all, Yarborough won 15 races at Daytona.

Bobby Allison

Allison won the 500 three times, but it took him nearly as long as Dale Earnhardt Sr. - 18 years - to get his first victory in 1978. Allison won again in 1982 and for a final time at age 50 in 1988, when he beat his son Davey across the finish line. Davey won the 500 in 1992, making the Allisons one of three father-son combinations to win the 500. The others are Lee and Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Jarrett

Give Jarrett a fast car when he was in his prime, and he was as good as anybody at Daytona. The second-generation driver not only scored three Daytona 500 victories, but held off Dale Earnhardt Sr. for two of them. He won in 1993 for Joe Gibbs Racing and in 1996 and 2000 for Robert Yates, giving Yates two of his three 500 victories.

Jeff Gordon

Gordon has three Daytona 500 victories - 1997, '99 and 2005 - and considering he's only 36, could easily add to that total. Given his propensity for winning the highest-profile races, Gordon has to be considered among the favorites for the race's landmark 50th running. In his most recent victory, Gordon held off Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a green-white-checkered finish.

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