NASCAR History: A Look Back On Feb. 15

The 2009 season begins on Feb. 15 and will be the seventh NASCAR Cup-level race run on this particular day. Here is a look back at the six other races on this date:

Feb. 15, 1953—The second race of the 37-race NASCAR Grand National season took place at the famed Daytona Beach course. The 39-race endeavor would go caution free with Fonty Flock dominating. On the last lap, however, Bill Blair would power his ’53 Oldsmobile past Flock to take his third, and final, career victory.

Feb. 15, 1976—One of the most historic NASCAR Winston Cup finishes occurred on this day, with David Pearson edging Richard Petty by a mere fifty feet.

In a race dominated among A.J. Foyt, Petty, and Pearson, Foyt would fall to the wayside, leaving Petty and Pearson to duke it out. Coming off of turn four on the final laps, both cars would make contact, sending each slamming into the wall.

Petty’s Dodge would stop just short of the finish line and would be unable to restart. Pearson would keep his Mercury engine running and would coast across the line to win his only Daytona 500.

Feb. 15, 1981—Five years removed from that fateful finish, Petty would pick up his seventh and final Daytona 500 victory in NASCAR’s first race with downsized cars. Bobby Allison would dominate—leading well over half the race—but after Petty took the lead with 25 laps remaining, the STP Buick would remain untouched until the finish.

Feb. 15, 1987—Bill Elliott would first set the course lap record of 210.364 mph and then edge Benny Parsons in his second career Daytona 500 victory at the last unrestricted running of the event. The top five consisted of a mix of old vs. new drivers with Elliott winning, Parsons running second, Petty third, Buddy Baker fourth, and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. fifth.

Feb. 15, 1998—Eleven years would pass before another race on the 15th, but that particular race was well worth the wait. Dale Earnhardt, Sr., after twenty years of trying, finally conquered the Daytona 500. In one of the most iconic images of the sport, Earnhardt was congratulated by nearly every crew member on pit road on the way to victory lane.

Feb. 15, 2004—Six years to the day after his late father’s greatest triumph, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. would take, what is currently, his sole Daytona 500 victory.  The race would be dominated by the combination of Junior and Tony Stewart, with the No. 8 Chevy proving victorious in the first ever Nextel Cup event.