These NASCAR Cup Series Champions Have Not Won the Daytona 500
What’s Happening? Feb. 16 marks the 67th running of the Daytona 500. As always, key drivers are looking to take home…
With another Daytona 500 just days away, it’s a great time to crack out the NASCAR record book. In NASCAR history, nine different Manufacturers have won the Great American Race, so who has dominated the banks of Daytona, and who is hunting for more in 2025?
What’s Happening? Feb. 16 marks the 67th running of the Daytona 500. As always, key drivers are looking to take home…
Buick last took a stock car to Daytona victory lane with three-time Daytona 500 Champion Bobby Allison won in 1988. Allison led 70 laps that afternoon in a memorable 1-2 finish with his son Davey, who would win the 500 in 1992.
Buick’s first win was in 1981 with Richard Petty, who won seven Daytona 500s with four different manufacturers. Allison won the brand’s second 500 in 1982. However, Buick officially left NASCAR following the 1991 season.
In a nine-season period, Mercury won all three of their Daytona 500s. All three of these were won by Wood Brothers Racing, which was then known for its relationship with Mercury rather than Ford.
The drivers who won in these Mercurys are a short list of all-time greats. In 1968, NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough won, followed by IndyCar legend A.J. Foyt in 1968 and fellow Hall of Famer David Pearson in 1976.
Oldsmobile had one of the longest droughts between wins. In 1959, they won the first Daytona 500 with Lee Petty behind the wheel, but they did not win again until Richard Petty did so in 1979. That win was Petty’s sixth 500, third with a different OEM, and considered one of the greatest races ever.
Olds would not have to wait long until they won their third and final 500 in 1980. That afternoon, Buddy Baker led a dominating 143 laps in his Gray Ghost en route to his only Daytona 500, and first win at Daytona International Speedway.
Pontiac had a similar streak to Olds, and they won back-to-back Daytona 500s in 1961 and 1962 with Marvin Panch and Fireball Roberts. However, they had to wait until 1983 to win their final Daytona 500 with Cale Yarborough.
Cale’s 1983 win is memorable as he flipped what was supposed to be his main entry, a Chevrolet, before switching to a Pontiac backup car. Pontiac would not win another 500, however, in the next 21 years before their 2004 departure from NASCAR.
Toyota had to wait sometime before winning its first Daytona 500. Veteran driver Denny Hamlin broke through for them in 2016. Toyota dominated that race and then entered a three-year drought.
However, Hamlin would win again in 2019 with room to spare. All looked lost as Ryan Newman and Ryan Blaney’s Fords pulled away from Hamlin in 2020 until a wreck nudged Hamiln in front of Blaney. The 2016 and 2020 wins are some of the most memorable in recent history, though for drastically different reasons.
Dodges Daytona’s losing streak, puts Oldsmobile and Pontiac to shame. Dodge won back-to-back Daytona 500s in 1973 and 1974 with Richard Petty. However, the brand slowly faded from NASCAR during the 1980s.
When the brand re-emerged in 2001, it took one season for them to return to victory lane with Ward Burton and Bill Davis Racing in 2002. Dodge won again in 2008 before suddenly leaving the sport as Champions in 2012.
Plymouth won four Daytona 500s from 1964 to 1971. Of course, this was during the infamous aero wars. Petty Enterprises fielded all four winning entries, and Richard Petty won three of the four races alongside part-timer Pete Hamilton.
Of course, the most memorable victories came in the iconic high-winged Plymouth Superbird in 1970 and 1971. In 1970, Pete Hamilton drove his red-nosed Superbird to victory, and Petty drove his now iconic No. 43 Superbird to victory with a race-high 69-lap lead.
Ford clocks in at Second with 17 total wins in the Daytona 500. The list of winners reads as a laundry list of greats, including Bill Elliott, Dale Jarrett, Fred Lorenzen, Mario Andretti, and Matt Kenseth.
Ford won their first Daytona 500 in 1963 with the Wood Brothers. Tiny Lund’s victory would be easily remembered 48 years later when Trevor Bayne took a WBR Ford to Daytona victory lane.
However, the winningest Ford organization at Daytona is Robert Yates Racing, which won three Daytona 500s with Davey Allison (1) and Dale Jarrett (2). In its 1993-2003 prime, RYR had consistent speed at the track with multiple chances to win.
Since 2015, Ford has had the most wins of any OEM in the Daytona 500, with four. This dominance began with Joey Logano’s 2015 win and continued with Austin Cinidric’s win in 2022, the Blue Oval’s most recent.
Chevrolet is undoubtedly the king of OEMs at the Daytona 500. The brand is led by its 1990’s poster boy, Jeff Gordon, who won three 500s from 1997 to 2005.
Gordon’s 2005 win was part of an unprecedented five-year win streak that began with Michael Waltrip’s 2002 victory for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and ended with Kevin Harvick’s victory in 2007. Had Dale Jarret’s Ford not won in 2000 and Ward Burton’s Dodge in 2002, this streak would have lasted from 1997 to 2007.
Chevrolet’s first win at Daytona was in 1960 with Junior Johnson. However, Chevrolet’s top-winning team would not win their first until 1986. This win, of course, was with Hendrick Motorsports and Geoff Bodine, who led a massive 101 laps.
At the time, this was Chevrolet’s fifth win. However, thanks to Hendrick, Chevrolet has finally pulled away from the competition. In fact, team wins are the only category in which the Bowtie Brand does not have a leg up, as HMS is tied with Petty Enterprises at nine wins.
HMS most recently won last year with William Byron; if they win in 2025, they will be the all-time winningest organization in the 500, and it would be Chevrolet’s third in a row.
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