Italian-born Mario Andretti is a former automobile-racing driver
whose career saw him capture numerous titles.
He won four IndyCar National Championship titles and the
Indianapolis 500 in 1969; in stock car racing, he won the
Daytona 500 in 1967. In endurance racing, Andretti is a three-
time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Lee Petty winning the Daytona 500 in the first-ever photo
finish in the history of the sport.
On February 22, 1959, Lee Petty defeated Johnny Beauchamp
in a photo finish at the just-opened Daytona International
Speedway in Florida to win the first-ever Daytona 500.
The race was so close that Beauchamp was initially named
the winner by William France, the owner of the track and
head of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.
However, Petty, who was driving a hardtop Oldsmobile 88,
challenged the results and three days later, with the help of
news photographs, he was officially named the champ.
Lee Arnold Petty (March 14, 1914 – April 5, 2000)
On February 21, 1948, the National Association for Stock
Car Racing, or NASCAR, as it became to be widely known.
was officially incorporated. NASCAR racing went on to
become one of America’s most popular spectator sports,
as well as a multi-billion-dollar industry.
The driving force behind the establishment of NASCAR
was William “Bill” France Sr. a mechanic and auto-repair
shop owner from Washington, D.C., who in the mid-1930s
moved to Daytona Beach, Florida.
The area was a gathering spot for racing enthusiasts,
and France got involved in racing cars and promoting
races.
After witnessing how racing rules could vary from event
to event and how dishonest promoters could abscond
with prize money, France felt there was a need for a
governing body to sanction and promote racing.
Bill France Sr. or Big Bill (1909 – 1992).
On February 18, 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr., considered one of
the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, died at the age of 49
in a last-lap crash at the 43rd Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach,
Florida.
Earnhardt was driving his black No. 3 Chevrolet and vying for
third place when he collided with another car, then crashed
into a wall. After being cut from his car,
Earnhardt, whose tough, aggressive driving style earned him
the nickname “The Intimidator,” was taken to a hospital, where
he was pronounced dead of head injuries.
Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s death made him the fourth NASCAR driver
to die within a nine-month period and eventually prompted
NASCAR officials to implement a series of more stringent
safety regulations, including the use of head-and-neck
restraints.
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a businessman and retired
professional basketball player who is a minority owner
of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball
Association.
Michael Jordan is a principal owner of 23XI Racing,
a NASCAR Cup Series team he founded in 2020
alongside Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin.
On February 15,of this year, the team achieved its
biggest milestone by winning the 2026 Daytona 500
with driver Tyler Reddick, marking a major success
for the NBA icon’s venture.
