Daytona 500 winners by year: Every driver who has won NASCAR's most famous race
The Daytona 500 has produced kings, kicked off championship dynasties, cemented legacies and lifted relative unknowns into the biggest spotlight.
The "Great American Race" has been held 66 times, with the patriarch of the Petty family, Lee Petty, taking the first Daytona 500 checkered flag in 1959. His son, Richard "The King" Petty, holds the record for most Daytona 500 victories, winning the first of his seven Harley J. Earl trophies in 1964.
Five other drivers have won NASCAR's premier event at least three times: Cale Yarborough (four), Bobby Allison (three), Dale Jarrett (three), Jeff Gordon (three) and Denny Hamlin (three).
Jimmie Johnson, who won twice, began a run of five consecutive Cup Series championships after winning the 2006 race, while his Daytona triumph in 2013 kicked off a season that led to his sixth Cup title at the end of the year (Johnson would later add a record-tying seventh Cup championship in 2016).
William Byron won the 2024 Daytona 500, joining Gordon, Johnson and three others to win as Hendrick Motorsports drivers. Byron's victory was Hendrick's ninth as an owner, tying Petty Enterprises for most Daytona 500 wins by a team.
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Here are the Daytona 500 winners by year:
1959: Lee Petty
1960: Junior Johnson
1961: Marvin Panch
1962: Fireball Roberts
1963: Tiny Lund
1964: Richard Petty
1965: Fred Lorenzen
1966: Richard Petty
1967: Mario Andretti
1968: Cale Yarborough
1969: LeeRoy Yarbrough
1970: Pete Hamilton
1971: Richard Petty
1972: A.J. Foyt
1973: Richard Petty
1974: Richard Petty
1975: Benny Parsons
1976: David Pearson
1977: Cale Yarborough
1978: Bobby Allison
1979: Richard Petty
1980: Buddy Baker
1981: Richard Petty
1982: Bobby Allison
1983: Cale Yarborough
1984: Cale Yarborough
1985: Bill Elliott
1986: Geoff Bodine
1987: Bill Elliott
1988: Bobby Allison
1989: Darrell Waltrip
1990: Derrike Cope
1991: Ernie Irvan
1992: Davey Allison
1993: Dale Jarrett
1994: Sterling Marlin
1995: Sterling Marlin
1996: Dale Jarrett
1997: Jeff Gordon
1998: Dale Earnhardt Sr.
1999: Jeff Gordon
2000: Dale Jarrett
2001: Michael Waltrip
2002: Ward Burton
2003: Michael Waltrip
2004: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2005: Jeff Gordon
2006: Jimmie Johnson
2007: Kevin Harvick
2008: Ryan Newman
2009: Matt Kenseth
2010: Jamie McMurray
2011: Trevor Bayne
2012: Matt Kenseth
2013: Jimmie Johnson
2014: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2015: Joey Logano
2016: Denny Hamlin
2017: Kurt Busch
2018: Austin Dillon
2019: Denny Hamlin
2020: Denny Hamlin
2021: Michael McDowell
2022: Austin Cindric
2023: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2024: William Byron
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Daytona 500 winners by year: Every driver who has won the NASCAR race
