The Daytona 500 is not only important to teams, drivers, and fans, but also to NASCAR’s Manufacturers, as they dream of Daytona glory. Since the first race in 1959, nine different makes have won the Daytona 500, but, entering the 2026 race, who is the most dominant of all?
1968, 1972, 1976
Mercury has won the Daytona 500 on three occasions, with its most recent triumph coming in 1976. That race is notable for many reasons, as it served as 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee David Pearson’s lone victory in the Daytona 500.
In fact, each of the three drivers who won the Daytona 500 with Mercury is perhaps one of the greatest racers in American history, with Cale Yararbourgh bringing home Mercury’s first win in 1962, and A.J. Foyt winning his lone 500 in 1972.
Nonetheless, Mercury’s final victory will likely be remembered for the battle between Pearson and the five-time Daytona 500 Champion Richard Petty, which resulted in both drivers crashing before the checkered flag.
1959, 1979, 1980
Oldsmobile went back-to-back in 1979 and 1980, but would never win the race again before exiting the sport after the 1995 season. Nonetheless, its three wins in the race were historic for different reasons.
The brand’s first win in the Daytona 500 was in the first Daytona 500, with Lee Petty bringing home the win in the No. 42. Oldsmobile wouldn’t win the 500 again until doing so in the iconic 1979 Daytona 500, with Lee’s son Richard Petty scoring his sixth 500 victory dramatically.
Their final victory came just one year later, with 2020 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Buddy Baker bringing home the victory in his iconic “Gray Ghost” for Ranier Racing.
1961, 1962, 1983
Pontiac was the first ever NASCAR manufacturer to go back-to-back in the Daytona 500, winning the third and fourth running with Marvin Panch and Fireball Roberts behind the wheel.
Roberts’ win in 1962 was his second at Daytona that season, having won his qualifier prior to raceday, and part of an overall dominant season for the No. 22, winning all three of the races they entered at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, including July 4th’s Firecracker 250.
The brand’s final win came 21 years later, as the first of Cale Yarborough’s back-to-back wins in 1983 and 1984. After winning the race in a Pontiac in ’83, the Ranier team would win in ’84 with Yarborough behind the wheel of a Chevrolet.
1981, 1982, 1988
All three of Buick’s Daytona 500 victories came in a cluster from 1981 to 1988. During this stretch, Buick made history, scoring two final Daytona 500 wins for two of the event’s best competitors.
Their first win in 1981 was Richard Petty’s seventh and final Daytona 500 victory. This race also, once again, broke the record for all-time wins, as Petty’s 193rd victory, a record he would break seven more times in his career before reaching the total of 200.
That next season, Bobby Allison would win Buick their second ever Daytona 500, this was also Allison’s second, making him, at the time, one of just three drivers to have won the event multiple times (alongside Petty and Yarborough).
Though Bill Elliott would join this club in 1987, Allison and Buick’s final Daytona 500 would set the NASCAR legend apart again, making him, at the time, just one of three drivers to win the race three or more times (again alongside Petty and Yarborough).
2016, 2019, 2020
The 2026 Daytona 500 will be the 20th attempt at the Daytona 500 for Toyota, which, alongside Denny Hamlin, is seeking their fourth win in the event.
Their first win in 2016 put a cap on a dominant day for the brand, with six of its drivers combining to lead 158 of the race’s 200 laps. On the final lap, it looked like a heat between Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, with Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr, with Hamlin beating Truex to the line.
In 2019 and 2020, Hamlin would become the fifth-ever driver to win the race three times, and the fourth driver to win the 500’s back-to-back. Since the 2020 race, Toyota has not won a points-paying race at Daytona.
1964, 1966, 1970, 1971
In eight seasons, Plymouth dominated the Daytona 500, with four total wins, all with one team.
During this stretch, Richard Petty won his first three Daytona 500s in 1964, 1966, and 1971. This effort marked Petty as the race’s most dominant driver in its short history, though he still holds this title today, with a still yet to be matched seven wins in the 500.
The only non-petty factor during this run was the 1970 event, when Petty’s Petty Enterprises teammate, Pete Hamilton, won his first of two Daytona 500s. This win marked Hamilton as the third Petty Enterprises driver to win the race.
1973, 1974, 2002, 2008
Dodge first struck it rich at Daytona in 1973 and 1974 with, you guessed it, Richard Petty, who scored his fourth and fifth Daytona 500s with Dodge, continuing his legacy with Chrysler brands in the 500.
After those wins, and Dodge’s subsequent lengthy absence from the sport, the brand did not score another win until 2002, when Ward Burton scored an underdog victory. In 2008, Dodge won once more with Ryan Newman, before the brand left once again after 2012.
Though they may not have the most victories in Daytona 500 history, Dodge is viewed as one of the brands most associated with the track. Dodge has been gone from Daytona since 2012, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a future at the track, as the 2026 race could be the final 500 before their rumored return to NASCAR.
Most Recent: 2022
Ford is the second-winningest OEM in Daytona 500 history, having won in every single decade except for the 1950s, having finished second in the first-ever 500 in 1959. So, we will touch on the brand’s highlights.
Ford first won the 500 in 1963 with the Wood Brothers and Tiny Lund. The brand would win three more times in the 60s with Fred Lorenzen, Mario Andretti, and LeeRoy Yarbrough.
Bobby Allison won his first Daytona 500 with Ford in 1978, with Bill Elliott also winning his first of two Daytona 500 wins with Ford in 1985. Robert Yates’ ownership would serve the brand well in the 1990s and into the 2000s, with Davey Allison and Dale Jarrett combining for three wins during that run.
In recent years, the brand has continued to win 500s with the Wood Brothers and Trevor Bayne scoring a win in 2011, and Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, and Kurt Busch rounding out the 2010s with even more wins. In the 2020s, Michael McDowell and Austin Cindric won their first races driving Fords in the Daytona 500.
To the surprise of a few, Chevrolet tops the list of Daytona 500 champions.
The brand has a track record yet to be matched, with drivers like Earnhardt, Gordon, Johnson, Marlin, and Waltrip carrying the banner for teams like Morgan–McClure Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and Richard Childress Racing.
Of all their wins, one of the most dominant stretches for Chevrolet came from 2001 to 2010, when they won seven of ten races, with teams using engines from both ECR and Hendrick to win multiple 500s. During this run of wins, future Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick all carried a bowtie to victory lane.
Chevrolet is in the middle of a similar stretch entering 2026, having won the past three Daytona 500s, including back-to-back wins with HMS’ William Byron in 2024 and 2025.
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Two NASCAR Cup Series crew members for Ross Chastain’s No. 1 team were suspended following the race at Circuit of the Americas
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On February 17, Ubisoft released a trailer that confirmed that NASCAR would be included in The Crew Motorfest’s next season update. Details were limited at the time, but in a press release issued today, Ubisoft revealed the full details of the update ahead of its March 4 launch.
Ubisoft says drafting will affect car speed and help save fuel, implying that drafting will be a huge factor in the game, at least with these cars. You can check out this and much more on Ubisoft’s official post linked below
Earlier this Tuesday, the official The Crew Motorfest account clarified confusion around the NASCAR bundles. The Crew Credit (CC) bundles only include cosmetic team liveries, not additional cars. The 3 base Next Gen cars (Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Toyota Camry XSE, and Chevrolet ZL1) are part of the free Season 9 update and can be purchased separately.
Mitch Rasmussen, NASCAR’s Senior Director of Interactive, said in the press release:
We’re excited to bring our iconic brand to life in The Crew Motorfest. This collaboration represents another important step in our strategy to bring NASCAR into the digital spaces and places where next generation fans spend their time, giving players new ways to interact with the culture and communities they love.
The content arrives as part of Year 3 Season 9 and is officially licensed by NASCAR. You can watch the first trailer and learn more in the article linked below
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Four road courses on the schedule, and somehow that’s enough to spark one of the biggest debates in the garage. After recent comments from Brad Keselowski questioning the business value of road racing, the conversation has picked up serious steam. Is NASCAR leaning too far into it, or is the current balance about right?
There are valid points on both sides, from sponsorship realities to fan traditions to competitive diversity. Some tracks have gained traction. Others have struggled. The question isn’t just whether road courses belong, but how many make sense within a 36-race season. It’s less about extremes and more about direction. And with future schedule changes always looming, this debate probably isn’t settled anytime soon.
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