Victory in 1965 went to Fred Lorenzen. Second was Darel Dieringer, Third was Bobby Johnson, Fourth Earl Balmer and Fifth Ned Jarrett.
Richard Petty bounced back into the Daytona 500 spotlight in 1966, winning for the second time and beating Cale Yarborough, who edged David Pearson, who was in front of Fred Lorenzen, who finished ahead of Sam McQuagg.
Mario Andretti stopped off at Daytona from his racing days at Indianapolis and won the 1967 Daytona 500. Fred Lorenzen finished Second, James Hylton Third, Tiny Lund Fourth and Jerry Grant Fifth.
Then began the Cale Yarborough era. He won the 1968 Daytona 500. LeeRoy Yarbrough finished Second, Bobby Allison Third, Al Unser Fourth and David Pearson Fifth.
LeeRoy Yarbrough in Junior Johnson's Ford won the 1969 Daytona 500. Charlie Glotzbach in Cotton Owens' Dodge was Second, followed by Donnie Allison, A.J. Foyt and Buddy Baker.
Pete Hamilton, in a Petty Plymouth prepared by Maurice Petty, slipped by David Pearson to win the 1970 Daytona 500. Bobby Allison was Third, Charlie Glotzbach was Fourth and Bobby Isaac Fifth.
It was Richard Petty's turn again in 1971. A.J. Foyt slipped in to win in 1972, and Petty took First again in 1973 and 1974, winning two years straight in Dodges.
Benny Parsons, driving a Chevrolet, won in 1975, and David Pearson was the 1976 winner in a Mercury after surviving a last-lap crash with Petty.
Cale Yarborough came back to the front in 1977, and Bobby Allison took the 1978 Daytona 500.
Richard Petty won in 1979 and his last victory in the 500 at the Big D was in 1981 with Buddy Baker getting his win in 1980.
Bobby Allison won in 1982, and Cale Yarborough took the next two straight, winning in 1983 and 1984.
Bill Elliott came on the scene in 1985 and won the 500, followed by Geoff Bodine in 1986 and then Elliott again in 1987.
Allison got another victory in '88, and Waltrip won in 1989. Derrike Cope did the trick in 1990 while Ernie Irvan won in 1991. Davey Allison wheeled into Victory Lane in 1992, Dale Jarrett in 1993, and Sterling Marlin put back-to-back wins together in 1994 and 1995.
It was Dale Jarrett's turn in 1996, and Jeff Gordon's in 1997.
Earnhardt's win in the '500' came as NASCAR celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1998, and Gordon again in 1999. Jarrett won another one in 2000, and Michael Waltrip drove an Earnhardt-prepared car to victory just ahead of Earnhardt's fatal accident.
Ward Burton drove Bill Davis' Dodge to victory in 2002, and Michael Waltrip won again in 2003. Dale Earnhardt Jr. made it to Victory Lane in 2004, and Jeff Gordon in 2005. Then it was Jimmie Johnson, the winner in 2006, and Kevin Harvick won in 2007.
Yes, The Great American Race.
Getting The Word OutMonths Of Preparation Went Into Making This Year's Milestone Running Of The Daytona 500 An Event To RememberYou're now well aware that this year marks the 50th running of the Daytona 500.
It's a landmark for the sport, a half-century of races at the world's most significant stock car track.
One man, in particular, has been busy the past 18 months or so keeping the media apprised of events and developments, which in turn channeled them on to you, the readers, viewers and listeners. We're speaking of Andrew Booth, 33, Daytona International Speedway's Manager of Media Relations.
Before the green flag falls at the 2.5 mile speedway on February, 17, Booth will have authored something like 100 press releases on the event.
Put in recognizable terms, if laid end-to-end, those releases would equal an 11-car draft down Daytona's backstretch, or to put it another way, if taped up on Daytona's infield scoring pylon, those releases would reach up well past that 70-foot distance.
But that is hardly even denting the surface on what Booth's duties have encompassed coming into this 50th celebration.
Everything from reunions to face lifts and fan-friendly attractions have come under his direction.
"Planning for the 50th running of the Daytona 500 started at least 18 months in advance of our race date of Feb. 17, 2008," he says.