4LT GS Roadster
Daytona Beach, FL. - This is the final installment in a five-part series on some of the best Daytona 500 finishes in the history of "The Great American Race." Finishes were chosen based on the drama they created and the historical value that resulted.
When choosing the best finish in Daytona 500 history, it is to hard look further than the race's first year.
That's because the whole thing transpired script-like. For the first Daytona 500 to end with a finish that took several days to sort out is hard to imagine, even 51 years after the fact.
But it's also downright appropriate, because the fact that Daytona International Speedway even got built is hard to imagine, all these years later.
Lee Petty won that first 500 but only after NASCAR founder and president Bill France Sr. took several days perusing both film and photos of Petty and Johnny Beauchamp crossing the finish line simultaneously, a process made tougher by the fact that the lap-down car of Joe Weatherly also was in some of the images, on the outside of the two contenders.
• Best Daytona 500 finish: No. 2 - Pearson KO in '76
• Best Daytona 500 finish: No. 3 - Jeff beats Dale, '99
• Best Daytona 500 finish: No. 4 - Harvick, Martin '07
• Best Daytona 500 finish: No. 5 - Dale vs. Dale in '93
