In football the season ends with the most prestigious game of the season – the Super Bowl; in baseball it’s the World Series; but in NASCAR, the most prestigious race of the season is at the very beginning with the Daytona 500.
When the drivers take to the track next February, it will be the 66th running of that race. Some of the biggest names in the sport have won the race…some more than once. David Pearson, Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Sr and Jr, Jimmie Johnson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, and Dale Jarrett; but there are four legends of NASCAR who never crossed the finish line first at a Daytona 500 race…
Still active and looking to start a new winning streak, Kyle Busch has a long list of race records to his name but winner of the Daytona 500 is not one of them.
All members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame; Tony Stewart, Ned Jarrett, and Mark Martin never managed to win the “Great American Race”.
Stewart is a three time NASCAR Cup Series champion with 49 career race wins including two at the Brickyard in Indianapolis – his home state.
Martin is known as one of the greatest drivers never to win a championship…or a Daytona 500. Until it was broken by Kyle Busch, Martin held the record for the most wins in an Xfinity Series race with 49. Martin made a total of 29 starts in the Daytona 500.
While he never won the big race himself, Ned Jarret had the honour of not only seeing his son Dale win the race, but called the race in which his son won. A two time champion, Jarrett won 50races in his career.