Daytona 500 winners are usually remembered by driver, yet the cars underneath say plenty about each era of stock-car racing. Factory badges have changed from Pontiac and Plymouth to Chevrolet and Ford, with engines and aerodynamics shifting along the way. Here are twelve models that reached victory lane, listed in the order they won.
1. Pontiac Catalina: Fireball and Code 13U
Glenn ‘Fireball’ Roberts won the 1962 Daytona 500 in a Catalina, and the Code 13U engine under its hood is credited with helping him to that NASCAR victory. The Super Duty unit was Pontiac’s competition powerplant.
The same engine made Mickey Thompson, Arnie Beswick, Hayden Proffitt and Pontiac ad man Jim Wangers virtually unbeatable on the dragstrip in AHRA and NHRA events. The Catalina’s Daytona win and its drag-strip record are tied together through that one engine.
2. Plymouth Belvedere: The Hemi Sweep
Four vehicles powered by the new Hemi V-8 were driven by Richard Petty, Jimmy Pardue and Paul Goldsmith to first, second and third in the 1964 Daytona 500. That made the race a sweep of the podium for the Plymouth Belvedere.
For anyone tracing the Hemi’s reputation, the 1964 result is the debut statement: a new engine took the top three places at the sport’s biggest race. Petty, Pardue and Goldsmith shared the credit between them.
3. Mercury Cyclone: One-Two for Mercury
In the 1968 Daytona 500, the Mercury Cyclone both first and second. The fastback finished ahead of the rest of the field in the first two positions.
For fans of the badge, 1968 is the year the Cyclone’s name entered the Daytona winners’ list, and the result came as a pair rather than a lone car. A one-two finish shows the model had speed to spare that afternoon. The 1968 date places the result in the late 1960s, between the Hemi sweep of 1964 and the Superbird’s win in 1970.
4. Plymouth Superbird: Wings at Daytona
Pete Hamilton won the 1970 Daytona 500 in a Petty Enterprises Plymouth Superbird, with Maurice Petty serving as crew chief. The winged car carried the Superbird name into the Daytona 500 history books.
Maurice Petty is a Hall of Fame member from the Class of 2014, and his brother Richard Petty, Class of 2010, leads all drivers with seven wins in the Great American Race. The family’s fingerprints are all over this victory. Hamilton’s name goes into the Daytona 500 results alongside the Superbird, while the Petty crew chief shared the success.
5. Dodge Charger: Petty’s Fourth
On February 18, 1973, Richard Petty won his fourth Daytona 500 in a newly built Dodge Charger. He outlasted Buddy Baker, whose engine gave out with six laps to go.
Petty used that Charger body style exclusively until the end of 1977. For fans, the race is a clear driver’s duel: Baker, by then with the K&K Insurance Dodge team, led a car that failed shortly before the finish. The finish turned on mechanical failure rather than a pass, which is how the Charger’s victory was settled.
6. Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme: The Famous Finish
Petty won the Daytona 500 in an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme in the race known as the “Famous Finish”. He then ran most of the remaining races in a Chevrolet, winning four more races.
Petty took his seventh and last NASCAR championship by eleven points, the closest margin in NASCAR history until 1992. For Oldsmobile, the Cutlass Supreme is tied to a single, much-discussed finish at Daytona. The win and the title came in the same season, tying the Cutlass Supreme to the climax of Petty’s career.
7. Buick Regal: Seventh and Final
Richard Petty drove a Buick Regal to victory in the 1981 Daytona 500, his seventh and last win in the race. The car won a majority of the 1981 and 1982 season’s races.
It also took the NASCAR manufacturers title in 1981 and 1982. For Buick, the Regal’s record covers two full seasons, with the Daytona win serving as the opening statement of that stretch of dominance. Petty’s own role was to drive one to victory in that Daytona race.
8. Chevrolet Monte Carlo: Back-to-Back in Hall of Honor
In 1984, Cale Yarborough won his second consecutive Daytona 500 in this Waddell Wilson-prepared Monte Carlo. The Chevrolet marked the end of his back-to-back wins.
The car now stands in the Hall of Honor, where visitors can see it. For race fans, it preserves the machine behind a repeat victory at Daytona, with the engine builder named alongside the driver. The NASCAR Hall of Fame’s account names the engine builder, Waddell Wilson, as part of the story, and the display means the repeat win is preserved as an object rather than only a result.
9. Ford Thunderbird: Two Thunderbirds Left
Late in the 1992 Daytona 500, the race came down to two Ford Thunderbirds, those of Davey Allison and Morgan Shepherd. They finished in that order, with Allison taking the win.
The race’s Wikipedia entry notes that this left the two Thunderbirds of Allison and Shepherd to race for the win. The 1992 race therefore ended with the same model in the first two places, and Allison’s car ahead of Shepherd’s at the line. Davey Allison and Morgan Shepherd were the two drivers who carried the model to the front.
10. Ford Fusion: Fuel Runs Out at the Front
Kurt Busch put a Ford Fusion in victory lane in 2017 after the leaders ran out of fuel on the last lap. The winning line credited Ford and SHR for the hard work behind the victory.
For fans, the Fusion’s win shows how fuel strategy can decide Daytona: a car still running at the end took the race when the cars ahead had nothing left. The result put the Fusion in the winners’ list. The quoted line credits the manufacturer and team in the same breath as the car.
11. Chevrolet Camaro: A Debut Victory
Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 on February 18, 2018, in the Camaro ZL1’s debut. It was the car’s first race as Chevrolet’s stock car.
For Chevrolet, that meant the Camaro ZL1 won on its first outing. The 2018 result put the Camaro on the Daytona winners’ list from the moment it entered competition. The ZL1’s first race produced its first win, on February 18, 2018. The Camaro’s Wikipedia entry gives that date in the same sentence that records the debut.
12. Ford Mustang: Confetti on the Hood
Confetti on the hood of his Team Penske Next Gen Ford Mustang was a sure sign that Austin Cindric had won the 2022 Daytona 500. The car is now an exhibit at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
For visitors, the Hall of Fame display means the winning Mustang can be seen in person. The Next Gen platform gave the Mustang name its first Daytona 500 win in this list, with Penske’s team behind the result. The Hall’s account places the confetti on the hood to mark the win.
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