Feb. 22, 1959, The First Daytona 500: Fledgling NASCAR's first "500-Mile International Sweepstakes" drew 41,000 to the brand-new Daytona International Speedway, the biggest and grandest superspeedway this side of Indianapolis.

A field of 59 cars took the green flag for the start, vying for a then-record purse that totaled $67,760.

The race was the first of many close, dramatic finishes in what has become the Super Bowl of stock car racing. It ended in a three-way photo finish among Lee Petty, Johnny Beauchamp and Joe Weatherly. NASCAR officials immediately declared Beauchamp the winner, and he celebrated in Victory Circle. But Petty was sure he had won and stuck around for three days, lobbying NASCAR and speedway officials. Finally, after reviewing still photos and newsreel footage of the finish, NASCAR decided Petty had won by about 2 feet and awarded him the victory.

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Feb. 15, 1976, The Petty-Pearson Finish: Richard Petty, son of Lee Petty, winner of the first Daytona 500, spent most of the race trying to outrun David Pearson.

On the final lap, Pearson got around Petty on the long backstretch and began to pull away. But Petty wasn't through. He moved close behind Pearson coming off the fourth turn and tried to slingshot past on the low side of the banking.

Petty almost made it, but the two lead cars touched and both slammed into the wall, sliding down the banking into the infield grass just short of the finish line. Petty's engine died, and he couldn't get it restarted. But Pearson was able to keep his engine running and drove his battered car slowly across the finish line to grab the victory.

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Feb. 18, 1979, The Big One: A huge TV audience, thanks to a massive Northeast snowstorm, watched the first live flag-to-flag coverage of "The Great American Race," complete with a real bang-bang finish.

On the final lap, Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough were out ahead and battling for the win. Yarborough went low in an attempt to pass, and Allison moved down to block. Yarborough's left-side tires got into the infield grass, and the two cars bumped several times, crashed and wound up in the grass inside turn three.

While Richard Petty came from a half-lap behind to win the race and snap a 45-race victory drought, Allison and Yarborough got out of their cars and began jawing at each other. As the verbal battle appeared to quiet down, Bobby Allison stopped his lapped car to defend his brother and a helmet-swinging, kicking melee broke out, all shown live on national television.

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Feb. 14, 1988, A New Era: NASCAR decided to require horsepower-sapping carburetor restrictor plates at its two biggest and fastest tracks — Daytona and Talladega — after a frightening crash the previous year at Talladega, where cars raced at close to 210 mph.

The first race of the plate era was at Daytona in 1988, and it appeared the new rules worked well.

Bobby Allison, whose car had nearly flown into Talladega's crowded grandstands, won the race, becoming the oldest driver, at 50, to win the big event when he nipped son Davey at the finish line. Bobby Allison remains the oldest winner of the big event, and it's the only time a father and son finished 1-2 at the Daytona 500.

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Feb. 19, 1989, Waltrip's Big Day: Already a three-time champion, Darrell Waltrip came to Daytona in 1989 without a victory in his first 17 tries in the 500.

Waltrip, whose outspoken ways and battles with NASCAR earned him the nickname Jaws and fans' boos early in his career, was by this time a fan favorite.

So, it was a heartwarming moment when Waltrip, conserving gas to the end, took the checkered flag.

In Victory Circle, Waltrip did his best impression of Cincinnati Bengals running back Icky Woods, doing an impromptu "Icky Shuffle," spiking his helmet on the ground while yelling gleefully, "I won the Daytona 500! I won the Daytona 500!"

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Feb. 17, 1990, Another Earnhardt Miss: Dale Earnhardt had won numerous races at Daytona in qualifying and in other series, but the Daytona 500 kept eluding The Intimidator.

It looked like he finally had a 500 in his grasp this time, leading easily as he drove off the second turn of the final lap.

But Earnhardt ran across a piece on metal, cutting a tire. Derrike Cope drove through the debris and on to perhaps the biggest upset win in the race's history.

It was one of only two wins for Cope in NASCAR's top series, the other coming later in 1990 at Dover.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was in the infield watching the race, said that loss was the worst of his father's career.

"I could see how much that one hurt him," Junior said. "It took him a long time to get over it."

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Feb. 14, 1993, Dale Versus Dale: With two laps to go and Dale Earnhardt leading, up-and-coming Dale Jarrett was third going into turn three. Using a push from fourth-place Geoff Bodine, Jarrett went under Jeff Gordon for second and then pulled even with Earnhardt on the final lap. They bumped, sending Earnhardt sliding up the track and allowing Jarrett to make the pass for the lead and the win.

What made this 500 really stand out, though, was the TV coverage, with two-time NASCAR champion Ned Jarrett calling the race as his son passed Earnhardt for the win.

In the dramatic last moments of the race, Ned Jarrett was allowed to call the final laps alone, somehow holding his emotions in check until the checkered flag waved.

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Feb. 15, 1998, Earnhardt Finally Wins: It took Dale Earnhardt 21 years and numerous near-misses to win NASCAR's biggest race. He led the last 61 laps and cruised to the win when a caution flag waved on the last lap.

The biggest moment of the seven-time champion's career came when he drove onto pit road after his victory lap, finding nearly every crew member of every team waiting in line to congratulate him.

Bobby Labonte was probably the most overlooked runner-up in the history of the 500.

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Feb. 18, 2001, The Biggest Loss: NASCAR would never be the same after the final lap of this race.

Dale Earnhardt was in third place — trailing DEI drivers Michael Waltrip and son Earnhardt Jr. — when he was involved in a crash that at first glance did not seem serious.

But minutes later the world learned NASCAR's biggest star was dead.

Earnhardt's death has been the catalyst for a number of safety initiatives, including head and neck restraints, energy-absorbing walls and NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow.

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Feb. 18, 2007: Harvick beats Martin: Fan favorite Mark Martin, trying for his first Daytona 500 win in his 23rd try, came up just short in an overtime dash to the checkers with Kevin Harvick.

The margin was 0.020 seconds, the closest 500 finish since the advent of computer scoring in 1993.

The first three-quarters of the race were tame, with two caution flags for minor incidents. But the last 52 laps saw five multicar crashes, including one ignited by Kyle Busch that set up the two-lap overtime.

While Harvick beat Martin to the finish line, another crash broke out behind the leaders, with Clint Bowyer getting the worst of it as his car flipped and caught fire as he took the checkered flag. Harvick won after starting 34th, a Daytona 500 record.