NEWS RELEASE Contact: Speedway PR 386.947.6782 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 10, 2007 Editor s note: This is the fourth in a monthly series focusing on the 50 th running of the Daytona 500. 50 th Daytona 500 Series -- Drivers: What Are Their Favorite Daytona 500 Moments? DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. From the famous fight between the Allisons and Cale Yarborough to Mario Andretti s 1967 victory to Dale Earnhardt s long awaited win in 1998, when talking to the drivers that will compete in the historic 50 th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 17, you ll get a variety of answers when it comes to favorite Daytona 500 memories. Here s a sampling of the favorite Daytona 500 moments from drivers that are expected to compete in the most anticipated event in racing history and NASCAR s biggest, richest and most prestigious race. Three-time Daytona 500 champion Jeff Gordon Even though I didn t win this race, I go back to 1993, my very first Daytona 500, getting the opportunity to race and draft with Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett and Geoff Bodine. It was just really cool to be at the late stages of that race and it seemed like everything just stood still in time where I was looking around and I couldn t believe I m battling for this win in my very first Daytona 500. We won the qualifying race as well. I seem to remember everything that went on during that
race and of course it was a great lesson for me to learn how to win future Daytona 500s because I got taken to school by all those veterans that year. Three-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Jarrett My first Daytona 500 win would have to be it. Obviously being here as a kid with my dad, I remember a lot of things that happen but I have to go to my win. But I have to say sitting at home watching David Pearson and Richard Petty come to the line and crashing off of Turn 4 that comes to mind more than anything else. How much that meant to those two gentlemen who accomplished a lot in this sport but were trying to get a Daytona 500 win. But my one in 93 with my dad calling the race is probably one of the favorite memories that I will ever have in this sport and in this race. Kyle Petty Obviously my father s wins were always special to us. I tell people all the time, riding home with a Daytona 500 trophy in your car, that s a special memory for a kid when you re eight years old or 12 years old, it doesn t make a difference. I think in recent times, looking back, Dale Earnhardt finally winning this race. That was huge for this sport and huge for everybody. The 500 has had upsets and has had the guy run away all week long and won everything. It s that kind of race. There s so much history in this race. There s so much history of our sport in this race. I think that s what I would like all new fans to understand. The Daytona 500 didn t start last year. There s a lot of history in this sport and there s a lot of history at this place. This is our hallowed ground. This is our sacred ground. This is our sacred race. Tony Stewart
My favorite memory is watching the Allisons and Cale Yarborough fight on the apron in Turn 3. That was real racing at its best and real emotion at its best. That was a huge turning point for NASCAR and the Daytona 500 in particular. To have that action, that caught national attention and really brought NASCAR and the Daytona 500 from just a Southeastern sport to a nationwide covered sport. Jamie McMurray Dale Earnhardt winning the Daytona 500. As a race fan growing up, Dale Earnhardt was always my dad s favorite and someone we watched every Sunday. To finally see him get to win this race when he had come so close for so long, that was pretty cool and I will never forget that. 2002 Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton A moment that sticks out in my mind about the 500 that nobody else would think about was when my dad brought us down here to watch the race. I was about 10 years old. I was a big Bobby Allison fan. He had the Coca-Cola car. Every time the guard that was manning the big fence on the frontstretch would leave I would run up to the fence and get right up to the fence and be as close as I could when the cars came by. He finally made me get up higher in the stands. He didn t like that a whole lot. Jeff Burton To me, Cale Yarborough and the Allisons fighting. That was cool. That was the first fully televised Daytona 500. That was huge. I think it has a lot to do with how big our sport is today. First Daytona 500 memory
I came here as a kid and stood off of Turn 4 with my face pinned up against the fence watching those cars go by and I had never in my life seen so many people and the speed and the smell and the sound. There s twice as many people today, there s way more involvement in sponsors and there s way more competitive cars on the race track. It has grown exponentially. I ve had the unique perspective of being a kid watching and now coming here being a participant of it. I won the 50 th anniversary of the Southern 500. That is my most prized trophy. Maybe the only thing that can top that would be winning the 50 th anniversary of the Daytona 500. I have so much respect for this sport s history and all the heritage that went on way before I got here. Winning the 50 th annual Daytona 500 would be pretty high up there. Carl Edwards I guess the thing I remember the most about Daytona 500s was growing up watching Kenny Schrader. Him and my dad are cousins. So we would get the whole family and friends together in Missouri and it would be cold and nasty out and we would watch the race. To me, (Daytona) was a mythical place. It was Daytona. I didn t have a clue where it was but it was always sunny and nice and cars would go 200 mph. Kenny Wallace My fondest and first memory is Benny Parsons. I think I was 12 or 13-years-old when Benny Parsons won the race in the King s Row No. 72 car. I ll never forget that. I used to build that car as a model. It was just an incredible memory. I didn t get to even see the race. We didn t have enough money to get in the grandstands. We were staying in a hotel across the street. Greg Biffle
Certainly there have been a lot of big moments in the 500. I haven t gotten to see as many since I have been participating. I can remember watching the Daytona 500 for a long, long time. The latest memory I have is the red flag toward the end of the race when Sterling got out and was pulling on his fender. That s one I can remember. There have been some finishes that have been pretty close. Ken Schrader Mario Andretti winning (in 1967). My dad and I going down to St. Louis. I want to say it was a Fox Theater. In different parts of the country, they had closed circuit TV viewing of it. We sat there in that movie theater and watched that whole race and I said, Wow. That was something else. We did that for a number of years. Kasey Kahne The one that sticks out the most that I watched was probably when Dale Earnhardt was leading the (1990) race and his tire went down in Turn 3 on the final lap. I couldn t believe that. Maybe the biggest moment is when he actually won the race a couple of years later. I was on a cruise so I didn t get a chance to watch it but as soon as I got on the boat, I was watching SportsCenter instantly and you could see how big it was and how much it meant to the fans, teams and Dale himself. It was pretty awesome. David Reutimann I think probably my favorite, and it s probably one of the more colorful moments, is when they had the fight in Turn 3 between Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough. It was not so much the fight but it was one of the first (live) televised races and people are like, What is this? What s going on? I think it piqued a lot
of people s interests in the Daytona race and the 500 especially. With me as a Floridian living two hours from here, this place is sacred ground and the 500 is the race. Fifty years is amazing. It s an amazing race and it gets better every year. I think some of the greatest drivers in the world have won this race. Just having a chance to run it in the 50 th running coming up is pretty special. Ryan Newman My dad and I use to come down. He would pull me out of school on Wednesday and we would drive down through the day and overnight. We would park in the Cracker Barrel parking lot, illegally of course. We had tickets for Thursday and we would sneak into the garage area. We would sit up there (Segrave Grandstand) and watch the qualifying races. There were tickets that my grandparents use to have but they didn t come anymore. It was always a lot of fun and something to look forward to. NASCAR tickets for the DIRECTV Speedweeks 2008 events, including the 50 th running of the Daytona 500, are still available by calling 1-800-PITSHOP or by calling www.racetickets.com