With the NASCAR Cup Series moving to Daytona this weekend, it has many thinking about the greatest summer race moments at Daytona. Thanks to NASCAR Classics, there are plenty of Daytona Summer races that you can watch RIGHT NOW! Here are the best Daytona Summer races on NASCAR Classics.
The earliest Daytona summer race to be featured on NASCAR Classics just happened to be an incredible race. A young David Pearson started on the front row alongside Fireball Roberts. Roberts would dominate early, but he would lose the lead with 20 laps to go to Fred Lorenzen.
It came down to Pearson and Lorenzen as the final cars on the lead lap, and an incredible battle ensued between two future NASCAR Hall of Famers. The margin of victory was just a bit over a car length after Pearson took the lead for the final time with two laps to go. It was just the second victory of the young Pearson’s career, and it would not be his last in the summer race at Daytona.
Watch here: 1961 Firecracker 250
The 1974 Firecracker 400 was an iconic battle between arguably NASCAR’s two greatest drivers. The lead swapped hands 49 times on the day, with people holding the lead for more than 10 laps at a time only twice out of those 49 changes on the day, and holding the lead for more than five laps only eight out of 49 changes on the day.
After falling one lap down due to a flat tire, Richard Petty found himself on the back bumper of David Pearson in the final laps. As the white flag waved, Pearson backed off, and Petty took a massive lead. Well, Pearson closed back up and took the lead back off of turn four on the final lap. It was Pearson’s third straight win in the Firecracker 400.
The 2007 Pepsi 400 was the end of an era in multiple ways. It was the final Daytona summer race with Pepsi as the title sponsor, and it was the final superspeedway race with the Gen-4 cars and their iconic superspeedway sound. The race was a barn burner including teammates getting into each other and an iconic finish.
A seven-lap shootout decided the race, and Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch battled side by side for virtually the entire final six laps of the race. The race was decided by 0.005 seconds, and McMurray won his first race since the 2002 fall race at Charlotte.
Watch Here: 2007 Pepsi 400
Was this a NASCAR race or the ending of a storybook? The first race at Daytona following the death of Dale Earnhardt was dominated by none other than his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt Jr. also emulated his father in the final laps.
After getting shuffled to sixth on the final restart, Earnhardt Jr. sliced his way through the field just like his father did. Over 180,000 people stood and cheered as Earnhardt Jr. took home the biggest win of his career, and truly one of the most iconic moments in NASCAR history.
The President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, made Daytona International Speedway a stop on the campaign trail for the 1984 Presidential Election. As Air Force One landed behind the backstretch, a battle between two future NASCAR Hall of Famers ensued. Cale Yarborough was going for the season sweep at Daytona after winning the Daytona 500 in February, and Richard Petty was going for his 200th career win.
A caution flag came out with three laps to go, and Petty and Yarborough both battled to the caution flag. Petty won by a nose, and he celebrated his 200th win with Ronald Reagan in attendance. It was Petty’s final win, and what better final win to have?
These are some iconic Daytona moments on NASCAR Classics. What other moments could be added to this list this weekend?
NASCAR doesn’t operate in a vacuum, and with the NFL preparing for a massive new TV rights negotiation, the ripple effects could reach far beyond football. As billions more flood into pro football, the question becomes: where does that leave stock car racing when the next media deal comes around?
With executives like Steve O’Donnell already hinting that the schedule may not always stay at 36 races, the timing of the NFL’s next deal could dramatically impact NASCAR’s leverage heading into its own future negotiations. More money at the top of the sports world doesn’t always trickle down — sometimes it pulls the ladder up.
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Following last week’s shocking lawsuit filed by Joe Gibbs Racing against their former Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart, team owner and NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr chimed in with his take on how the lawsuit will unfold.
Entering the 2026 NASCAR season, most fans felt that a messy season, which saw multiple lawsuits filed between teams and one including NASCAR itself, was in the review mirror.
This illusion lasted not even one week after the 2026 season opening Daytona 500, with Joe Gibbs Racing filing a lawsuit against their former Crew Chief and Competition Director, Chris Gabehart, claiming he stole sensitive information from the team before jumping to Spire Motorsports.
Though the two have yet to come to blows over the matter in court, this battle is quickly picking up steam, with JGR since adding Spire as a co-defendant, and Gabehart filing a fiery and accusatory response on Wednesday afternoon.
Prior to these new additions, NASCAR Hall of Famer and co-owner of JR Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Jr., shared his thoughts on the lawsuit, alongside a prediction on how it will end, during the latest episode of his podcast, The Dale Jr Download.
What’s Happening? Joe Gibbs Racing has filed a lawsuit against former competition director Chris Gabehart, alleging he took confidential team information…
During this episode, Earnhardt provided some valuable commentary on the issue, though this did not come from his perspective as a driver. Rather, it came from his insights as an active owner in one of NASCAR’s highest divisions.
The long-time co-owner of JR Motorsports said that situations like this are the reason why teams make employees sign a non-compete clause, which would prevent them from working in a similar capacity in the sport for a period of time.
“The reason why they get them to do that is that they do not want to race against that information the very next week. Or the very next year,” Earnhardt said. “And so, while that person does sign the non-compete, they do have all that information.”
Ultimately, Earnhardt sees two sides to the conflict, saying that Gabehart did something that “has been going on forever” by taking his knowledge and skills to a new team after a rocky end to his time as JGR’s Competition Director.
In fact, as Earnhardt pointed out, losing a veteran, championship-caliber Crew Chief to the competition is something JRM went through just this past off-season, when former Xfinity Series Champion Jim Pohlman left the team for Richard Childress Racing.
While Pohlman is competing in the Cup Series for RCR, Earnhardt acknowledged that he is sure JRM is racing against some of the knowledge that the champion Crew Chief took with him, be that literally or metaphorically, on Saturdays, as RCR has a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program.
“RCR hired Jim Pohlman. You don’t think I’m racing against some of this **** that Jim did here in the O’Reilly Series? We know that. We expect that.” — Dale Earnhardt Jr
But, in contrast, Earnhardt acknowledges that JGR isn’t trying to prevent Gabehart from working, but rather, to protect the millions of dollars they have poured into R&D.
The long-time short track racer also added that this is just part of racing in the highest form of stock car racing, saying that compared to local racing, or even the Truck Series, you probably wouldn’t see a lawsuit like this, but “when it’s $150 to $200 million a year,” the stakes are high.
Nonetheless, Earnhardt admits he is curious to see what is to come of the lawsuit, given the shocking claims that Gabehart was using company equipment to offload this information from JGR.
Unfortunately, in his eyes, those on the outside looking in at this lawsuit will probably never truly know what happened, as the NASCAR veteran thinks that Spire will try to settle.
“I think this settles. I bet [the] money guy at Spire says, ‘You know what? Let’s make this go away, let’s move on,’ and I think that we’ll never really truly know,” Earnhardt said.
What’s Happening? Former Joe Gibbs Racing Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart has filed a new response slamming JGR as…
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While he may not have the accolades of some of the top names in NASCAR, collectors in the NASCAR community are starting to take notice of some outrageous resale prices for Carson Hocevar merchandise. So what exactly is going on here?
Of every subgroup within the NASCAR community, be that gamers, car fanatics, or just motorsports fans, there is perhaps no group more passionate than NASCAR collectors.
Whether it’s cards, sheet metal, merch, or diecast, NASCAR collectors have built a sprawling community of their own across the online NASCAR world to discuss everything you can imagine, from diecast production rumors to what collectables are fetching the highest prices.
A major topic of discussion in the NASCAR collector community this week, specifically in a now-deleted post to the r/NASCAR subreddit, was some sky-high prices for memorabilia of one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ most talked-about drivers, Carson Hocevar.
It’s no surprise that fans are clamoring for more Hocevar collectables. After all, he might have one of the most well-received personalities and racing styles in sports’ recent history, with many fans taking to his unapologetic racing and outgoing personality.
Of course, he has his detractors, as, at the same time, some of his fellow drivers have warned of some form of karma catching up to the former Rookie of the Year down the road.
But, if there were ever any doubt as to whether or not “Hurricane” Hocevar was shooting up the popularity charts in the grandstands, look no further than some of his merchandise being sold on sites like eBay.
For example, a Chili’s snapback hat that is similar to one that retailed for $50 on Spire Motorsports’ website before quickly selling out was recently resold on eBay for $122.50.
Now, a 145% increase is a lot for an unsigned, or non-race used hat (that also features no reference to Hocevar, Spire, or even the No. 77 team) might seem like an outlier, but what about a 1:64 scale diecast?
Well, prices are shooting up in that department as well, as an eBay auction for a 1:64 scale diecast of his 2025 Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet, which Lionel retailed for $11.75, sold for $41.00 just this morning.
If you think that’s a high price to buy a 1:64 at, what about 1:24 scale diecast? Well, this time you might want to sit down, because, on Wednesday afternoon, a 1:24 scale diecast of Hocevar’s Zeigler paint scheme from his 2024 Rookie of the Year season sold for $449.99.
Now it’s fun to window shop these wild prices, but they may leave you asking why they’re selling for that much.
Now, there are a lot of reasons why NASCAR merchandise will spike in value, and looking at the forces that are behind Hocevar, there is little to suggest that these high prices are going down anytime soon.
First, given his recent performance, some fans could see buying now as an investment, hoping that these items could pull a pretty penny down the line should Hocevar develop into a title contender.
This is similar to how a driver like Kyle Larson has seen their early merchandise (such as diecast from his days at Chip Ganassi Racing) skyrocket in value as his success and popularity have grown in and even outside of the NASCAR community.
Of course, not every NASCAR collector is in it for the current or future value of the item. For example, there are completionist collectors who collect every diecast or hat they can find for one specific driver or team.
Finally, there are those who, plain and simple, like Hocevar, and want to show their pride in whatever they can.
After all, whether it’s his social media presence, his on-track actions, or off-track persona, Hocevar is proving to a lot of drivers in the garage that personality goes a long way.
But, nonetheless, these different groups have all combined to make a highly competitive marketplace for Hocevar’s merchandise, pushing prices to levels that, just a handful of years ago, seemed highly unlikely for the upstart Rookie just promoted from the Craftsman Truck Series.
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