Get ready for another nail-biting year of racing as the green flag drops on the 51st Daytona 500 February 12th through the big race on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. The green flag waves at roughly 3:30 PM Eastern Stand Time on February 15, 2009.
This year, country star Keith Urban plays opens the celebrations of this most highly-rated and watched race. The Daytona 500 is a 200-lap, 500 mile long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held each year at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It's one of four restrictor plate races (races where a device is installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power) on the Cup schedule.
Every seat in the house at Daytona is filled, while literally millions of Americans tune in to cheer their favorite drivers as they celebrate at race day parties countrywide. Since 1995, U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, exceeding the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500 which in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and international viewing. The 2006 Daytona 500 pulled in the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20,000,000 viewers.
The Daytona 500 is considered by many as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar, carrying by far the largest purse. Championship points awarded are equal to that of any other Sprint Cup race. It's also NASCAR's first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start.
The event serves as the final event of Speedweeks and is recognized as "The Great American Race" and the "Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing." It is held the second or third Sunday in February, and since 1971, has been loosely associated with Presidents Day weekend.
The winner of the Daytona 500 is presented with the Harley J. Earl Trophy in Victory Lane, and the winning car is displayed, in race-winning condition, for one year at Daytona 500 Experience, a museum and gallery adjacent to Daytona International Speedway.
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