Daytona 300

The Daytona 300, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Beef. It's What's for Dinner. 300 (often shortened to Beef 300 in the media), is the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, 300-mile-long (483 km) held at Daytona International Speedway. It is held the day before the Daytona 500, and is considered the most prestigious event of the Xfinity Series. Until 2002, it was the only event of the Xfinity Series to be annually held at Daytona International Speedway. Austin Hill won the most recent race, in 2023.

Daytona 300

NASCAR Xfinity Series
Venue	Daytona International Speedway
Location	Daytona Beach, Florida, United States
Corporate sponsor	National Cattlemen's Beef Association (Beef. It's What's for Dinner campaign)^[1]
First race	1959
First Xfinity Series race	1982
Distance	300 miles (480 km)
Laps	120 Stages 1/2: 30 each Final stage: 60
Previous names	Modified Sportsman Race (1959–1965) Permatex 300 (1966–1977) Sportsman 300 (1978–1981) Goody's 300 (1982–1995) Goody's Headache Powder 300 (1996) Gargoyles 300 (1997) NAPA Auto Parts 300 (1998–2001) EAS/GNC Live Well 300 (2002) Koolerz 300 (2003) Hershey's Kisses 300 (2004) Hershey's Take 5 300 (2005) Hershey's Kissables 300 (2006) Orbitz 300 (2007) Camping World 300 (2008–2009) DRIVE4COPD 300 (2010–2014) Alert Today Florida 300 (2015) PowerShares QQQ 300 (2016–2018) NASCAR Racing Experience 300 (2019–2020)^[2]
Most wins (driver)	Dale Earnhardt and Tony Stewart (7)
Most wins (team)	Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (8)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Chevrolet (34)
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Turns	4

History

The race originates from races held at the Daytona Beach Road Course during the 1948 NASCAR Modified series season, the first sanctioned races held by the organization. Between 1950 and 1958, the race was held as part of the Modified/Sportsman Series, at the Daytona Beach Road Course. It was held the Friday or Saturday before the track's Grand National Series race.

In 1956–1959, a race in the short-lived NASCAR Convertible Division was also held.

The race moved to the new 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway for 1959. It was scheduled the day before the Daytona 500, and ran a distance of either 200 or 250 miles. In 1966, the race became known as the Permatex 300, making it only the second race on the NASCAR schedule to be named for a corporate sponsor (the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside being the first). In 1968 the Permatex 300 was shifted from the Modifieds division to the newly organized NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division. In 1982, the Late Model Sportsman Division was reorganized into the modern day NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the race was sponsored by Goody's for several years.

Incidents

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the race was often ridiculed and exploited by local media for its frequent crashes and massive pileups. Several major accidents and fires over the years were blamed on the low level of experience by several of the drivers, and the older equipment used. The level of prestige held by the event, along with the relatively large purses, attracted numerous independent and one-off entries, contributing to the inexperience of drivers in the field.

By the time the race had become part of a NASCAR touring series race, NASCAR tightened driver eligibility requirements, and the number of incidents has drastically been reduced. Under current NASCAR rules, drivers must be cleared to race at Daytona, Talladega (added to the second tier series in 1992), and Atlanta (after 2022 circuit changes) requiring enough experience at intermediate tracks to be cleared by NASCAR to participate at Daytona. Drivers who intend to run the 300 or the Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 will enter other lower-tier shorter support races, whether it was the former Dash Series race (which ended after 2004—it used less powerful cars) or until 2020, the ARCA race the week prior to gain NASCAR clearance, especially if a driver has turned 18 after the preceding October Talladega Camping World Truck Series race (the ARCA race was moved to the Xfinity race day in 2021). NASCAR will also require the driver first test in the January ARCA test at Daytona if they will turn 18 prior to the ARCA race or any national series race they intend to enter at Daytona or Talladega during a season before they are allowed to participate in an ARCA, Truck, or Xfinity race at either circuit and there are no intermediate tracks beforehand. (Drivers must be 18 to participate in any NASCAR national series race on a track 1.366 miles or longer; 16 and 17 year old drivers may enter a Truck race on shorter tracks.)

Inclement weather also plagued many early runnings.

The 1960 race is notable for having the largest pileup in NASCAR history. On the first lap, 37 cars crashed in turn four (out of a starting field of 68).

In 1981 and 2004, the race started on Saturday, but was halted by rain, and finished Monday, the day after the Daytona 500. The 1969 race was red flagged three times for rain and also saw the fatal crash involving Don MacTavish, which his whole front of the car ripped off.

The 1979 running was shortened by rain and won by Darrell Waltrip. A brutal crash erupted off Turn Two where fire exploded from the Preacher Cox Mercury of Joe Frasson; driver Don Williams was gravely injured in the crash and would die ten years later from the incident.

The 2013 race featured two large accidents. With five laps remaining, Michael Annett and Austin Dillon collided and a multi-car crash erupted in the first turn. The race was halted as a red flag was given to clean up the debris. Annett was hospitalized overnight after sustaining bruises on his chest, but was released the following day in time for the Daytona 500, but was ruled out for the following race at Phoenix because of a sternum injury. Following the red flag the race had two laps remaining. Regan Smith and Brad Keselowski moved into the lead on the final lap, but off the fourth turn, Keselowski turned Smith into the wall head on, causing the field to pile in. Kyle Larson had the most significant impact, as his No.32 Chevrolet flew into the tri-oval catch fence, causing its nose to snag a crossover gate, which tore open. The force of the collision dug the engine in, ripping it out of the car. The car's entire front half disintegrated and one front wheel lodged onto the engine and another flew approximately ten rows into the grandstand, injuring 30 spectators (two in critical condition). A total of twelve cars were involved in the crash, but all were unharmed.^[3] The two spectators that were seriously injured by the debris from Larson's crash were treated at the nearby Halifax Medical Center and were later released.

In 2015, two cautions in the final forty laps were caused by separate collisions that included eleven cars. In the first collision, Regan Smith's car flipped over once in the tri-oval, while in the second collision, Kyle Busch collided into a concrete wall head on, suffering a fracture in his leg and foot. As a result of his injuries, Busch was forced to miss the first 11 races of the Sprint Cup Series season however he would still manage to win the season championship.

The 2018 race produced the closest finish in any of NASCAR's top three series, when Tyler Reddick edged Elliott Sadler by 0.0004 seconds, making it the closest finish in NASCAR history. Since NASCAR scoring and timing does not measure beyond thousands of a second, the margin of victory was officially listed as 0.000 seconds (with video review which declared Reddick the winner by less than three inches). Analysis after the race by NASCAR timing and scoring officials placed Reddick's margin of victory at 0.0004 seconds.^[4] This race also had a record five overtime finishes, extending the race length to 143 laps.

On the final lap of the 2022 Beef. It's What's For Dinner 300, Myatt Snider flipped into the catchfence coming into turn 3 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2022. The driver of the 31 TaxSlayer Chevy walked away from the crash. This gave former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Austin Hill his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win.

Participation by Cup Series drivers

Since its inception, due to its prestige and prominent position on the Speedweeks calendar, the race has long attracted NASCAR Cup Series regulars. NASCAR Cup Series regulars have dominated the race since 1981, winning all but nine runnings. Notable Cup regulars who have won the race multiple times include Dale Earnhardt (7 wins), Tony Stewart (7), Darrell Waltrip (5), and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (3).

On four occasions, the driver of the race has gone on to win the Daytona 500, which is typically run on the following day: Bobby Allison (1988), Darrell Waltrip (1989), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004), Kevin Harvick (2007).

Because of current NASCAR rules, Cup driver participation has been reduced drastically. A five-race limit per year is in effect, and drivers would want to participate in events that would help them at certain circuits or sponsor's requests. Furthermore, after Kyle Busch's injuries from the 2015 crash, most teams do not want Cup drivers in the Xfinity race at Daytona (they are prohibited from both Talladega races because of bonus race rules in the spring and playoff races in the fall). The last Cup driver to win this race was Chase Elliott in 2016, a Cup Series rookie at the time.

Past winners

Daytona Beach Road Course

Year	Date	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)
						Laps	Miles (km)
1948	February 15	22	Red Byron	Ray Parks	Ford	68	149.6 (240.757)	1:58:29	75.757
	August 8	1	Fonty Flock		Ford	68	149.6 (240.757)	2:01:25	73.92
1949	January 16	8	Marshall Teague		Ford	47	202.1 (325.248)	2:16:08	88.23
1950	February 4		Gober Sosebee		Ford
1951	February 10	50	Gober Sosebee		Ford	39	159.9 (257.334)	1:56:37	82.27
1952	February 9	91	Tim Flock		Ford			1:08:39	87.39
1953	February 14	30	Cotton Owens		Plymouth	24	98.4 (158.359)	1:05:33	91.54
1954	February 20	30	Cotton Owens		Plymouth	30	123 (197.949)		93.87
1955	February 26	49JR	Banjo Matthews	Melvin Joseph	Ford	19*	77.9 (125.367)		98.04
1956	February 24	47A	Tim Flock	Joe Wolf	Chevrolet	31	127.1 (204.547)	1:25:17	89.41
1957	February 15	30	Speedy Thompson	Lester Hunter	Plymouth	31	127.1 (204.547)	1:15:41	99.097
1958	February 21	M4	Banjo Matthews		Ford	31	127.1 (204.547)	1:17:01	97.381

• 1955: Shortened from 125 kilometers (77.9 miles) due to a large crash and fire on the 17th lap which injured 3 drivers and 3 spectators.

Daytona International Speedway

Year	Date	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)	Full Results
						Laps	Miles (km)
1959	February 21	49	Banjo Matthews		Ford	80	200 (321.868)	1:29:07	134.65
1960	February 13	81	Bubba Farr	Roy Cook	Ford	100	250 (402.336)	2:08:38	116.610
1961	February 25	50	Jimmy Thompson		Ford	100	250 (402.336)	1:45:50	141.732
1962	February 17	9	Lee Roy Yarbrough		Ford	100	250 (402.336)	1:42:14	146.723
1963	February 23	70	Lee Roy Yarbrough		Studebaker	100	250 (402.336)	1:42:02	147.01
1964	February 22	55	Tiny Lund		Ford	80*	200 (321.868)	1:54:49	104.506
1965	February 13	50	Marvin Panch	Marion Cox	Ford	100	250 (402.336)	1:55:48	129.533
1966	February 27	87	Curtis Turner	Andy Hotton	Ford	120	300 (482.803)	2:04:33	144.52
1967	February 25	04	Jim Paschal		Plymouth	120	300 (482.803)	2:01:28	148.188
1968	February 24	3	Bunkie Blackburn	Ray Fox	Dodge	120	300 (482.803)	2:08:11	140.423
1969*	February 22	29	Lee Roy Yarbrough	Bondy Long	Ford	120	300 (482.803)	2:49:13	105.365
1970	February 21	29	Tiny Lund	Bondy Long	Ford	120	300 (482.803)	2:15:01	133.316
1971	February 13	97	Red Farmer		Ford	120	300 (482.803)	2:27:43	140.936
1972	February 19	90	Bill Dennis	Junie Donlavey	Mercury	120	300 (482.803)	2:12:43	135.627
1973	February 17	90	Bill Dennis	Junie Donlavey	Mercury	120	300 (482.803)	2:14:10	134.161
1974	February 16	90	Bill Dennis	Junie Donlavey	Mercury	108*	270 (434.522)	1:55:20	140.462
1975	February 15	11	Jack Ingram		Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:10:20	138.107
1976	February 14	04	Joe Millikan	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	120	300 (482.803)	2:03:26	145.828
1977	February 19	21	Donnie Allison		Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	1:56:36	154.396
1978	February 18	88	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Racing	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	1:50:39	162.675
1979	February 17	88	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Racing	Chevrolet	69*	172 (276.807)	1:50:22	93.778
1980	February 16	94	Jack Ingram	Junie Donlavey	Ford	120	300 (482.803)	2:19:44	128.817
1981	February 14/16*	21	David Pearson	Joel Halpern	Pontiac	120	300 (482.803)	2:19:05	129.419
1982	February 13	15	Dale Earnhardt	Robert Gee	Pontiac	120	300 (482.803)	1:56:29	154.529
1983	February 19	17	Darrell Waltrip	DarWal, Inc.	Pontiac	120	300 (482.803)	2:01:55	147.642
1984	February 18	17	Darrell Waltrip	DarWal, Inc.	Pontiac	120	300 (482.803)	1:54:56	156.613
1985	February 16	5	Geoffrey Bodine	Hendrick Motorsports	Pontiac	120	300 (482.803)	1:54:33	157.137
1986	February 15	8	Dale Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Pontiac	120	300 (482.803)	2:00:52	148.924
1987	February 14	15	Geoffrey Bodine	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	1:56:03	155.106
1988	February 13	12	Bobby Allison	Bobby Allison	Buick	120	300 (482.803)	2:15:09	132.825
1989	February 18	17	Darrell Waltrip	DarWal, Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:17:11	131.211
1990	February 17	3	Dale Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:00:31	149.357
1991	February 16	3	Dale Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:04:50	144.192
1992	February 15	3	Dale Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:15:55	132.434
1993	February 13	3	Dale Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:02:55	146.440
1994	February 19	3	Dale Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:04:53	144.135
1995	February 18	23	Chad Little	ppc Racing	Ford	120	300 (482.803)	1:59:25	150.732
1996	February 17	29	Steve Grissom	Diamond Ridge Motorsports	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:07:52	140.722
1997	February 15	74	Randy LaJoie	BACE Motorsports	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:00:15	149.688
1998	February 14	87	Joe Nemechek	NEMCO Motorsports	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:11:11	137.213
1999	February 13	1	Randy LaJoie	Phoenix Racing	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:10:04	138.391
2000	February 19	17	Matt Kenseth	Reiser Enterprises	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:07:54	140.735
2001	February 17	7	Randy LaJoie	Evans Motorsports	Pontiac	120	300 (482.803)	2:13:11	135.152
2002	February 16	3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:01:54	147.662
2003	February 15	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chance 2 Motorsports	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:05:12	143.770
2004	February 14/16*	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:21:32	127.179
2005	February 19	33	Tony Stewart	Kevin Harvick Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	1:59:59	150.021
2006	February 18	33	Tony Stewart	Kevin Harvick Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:23:49	125.159
2007	February 17	21	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	1:55:13	156.227
2008	February 16	20	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	120	300 (482.803)	1:56:46	154.154
2009	February 14	80	Tony Stewart	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:09:59	138.479
2010	February 13	4	Tony Stewart	Kevin Harvick Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:25:32	123.683	Report
2011	February 19	4	Tony Stewart*	Kevin Harvick Inc.	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:08:52	139.679	Report
2012	February 25	30	James Buescher	Turner Motorsports	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:18:51	129.636	Report
2013	February 23	33	Tony Stewart	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:08:37	139.951	Report
2014	February 22	7	Regan Smith	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	121*	302.5 (486.826)	2:02:28	148.204	Report
2015	February 21	16	Ryan Reed*	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	120	300 (482.803)	2:00:59	148.781	Report
2016	February 20	88	Chase Elliott	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	1:59:04	151.176	Report
2017	February 25	16	Ryan Reed	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	124*	310 (498.897)	2:38:47	117.141	Report
2018	February 17	9	Tyler Reddick*	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	143*	357.5 (575.34)	3:00:06	119.1	Report
2019	February 16	1	Michael Annett	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	1:58:41	151.664	Report
2020	February 15	9	Noah Gragson	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:11:44	136.64	Report
2021	February 13	22	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	122*	305 (490.849)	2:34:12	118.677	Report
2022	February 19	21	Austin Hill	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	120	300 (482.803)	2:11:46	136.605	Report
2023	February 18	21	Austin Hill	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	125*	312.5 (502.919)	2:21:30	132.524	Report

Notes

• 1964: Race shortened due to late start caused by three-hour rain delay..
• 1974: Race scheduled for 108 laps (270 miles) due to energy crisis.
• 1979: Race shortened due to rain.
• 1981 and 2004: Races postponed from Saturday to Monday due to rain.
• 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2023: Races extended due to NASCAR overtime.

Multiple winners (drivers)

# Wins	Driver	Years Won
7	Dale Earnhardt	1982, 1986, 1990-1994
	Tony Stewart	2005, 2006, 2008-2011, 2013
5	Darrell Waltrip	1978, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1989
3	Banjo Matthews	1955, 1958, 1959
	LeeRoy Yarbrough	1962, 1963, 1969
	Bill Dennis	1972-1974
	Randy LaJoie	1997, 1999, 2001
	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2002-2004
2	Gober Sosebee	1950, 1951
	Cotton Owens	1953, 1954
	Tim Flock	1952, 1956
	Tiny Lund	1964, 1970
	Jack Ingram	1975, 1980
	Geoff Bodine	1985, 1987
	Ryan Reed	2015, 2017
	Austin Hill	2022, 2023

Multiple winners (teams)

# Wins	Team	Years Won
8	Dale Earnhardt, Inc./Chance 2	1986, 1990–1994, 2003–2004
5	JR Motorsports	2014, 2016, 2018–2020
	Richard Childress Racing	2002, 2007, 2013, 2022-2023
4	Junie Donlavey	1972–1974, 1980
	Kevin Harvick Inc.	2005–2006, 2010–2011
3	DarWal, Inc.	1983–1984, 1989
	Hendrick Motorsports	1985, 1987, 2009
2	Bondy Long	1969–1970
	DiGard Racing	1978–1979
	Roush Fenway Racing	2015, 2017

Manufacturer wins

# Wins	Make	Years Won
35	Chevrolet	1956, 1975, 1977-1979, 1987, 1989, 1990-1994, 1996-2000, 2002-2007, 2009-2014, 2016, 2018-2020, 2022, 2023
22	Ford	1948-1952, 1955, 1958-1962, 1964-1966, 1969-1971, 1980, 1995, 2015, 2017, 2021
7	Pontiac	1981-1986, 2001
4	Plymouth	1953, 1954, 1957, 1967
3	Mercury	1972-1974
2	Dodge	1968, 1976
1	Studebaker	1963
	Buick	1988
	Toyota	2008

See also

• Daytona 500
• NextEra Energy 250

References

1. "Beef. It's What's For Dinner.® 300. on Menu for DAYTONA Speedweeks Presented by AdventHealth". Daytona International Speedway. January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
2. Bonkowski, Jerry (January 29, 2019). "NASCAR Racing Experience to sponsor 2019 Xfinity opener at Daytona". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
3. Associated Press, February 23, 2013
4. "Tyler Reddick wins in five overtimes at Daytona | NASCAR.com". Official Site Of NASCAR. 2018-02-17. Retrieved 2018-02-21.

External links

• Daytona International Speedway race results at Racing-Reference

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