McMurray goes for rare Daytona 500/400 sweep

By NASCAR.COM
July 1, 2010


Race No. 18: Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, July 3, 2010, on TNT). Green at 7:52 p.m. ET.

1—Current drivers who have scored their first victory in the July race at Daytona: Greg Biffle. He’s one of six drivers among the 15 who have posted their first victory at Daytona to have done so in the summer race.

3—July races at Daytona won by Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, tops among active drivers. Stewart has won three of the past five, all from the front row. Gordon last won in 2004.

4—Drivers in the top 12 in points who have not won at Daytona: No. 4 Denny Hamlin, No. 6 Kurt Busch, No. 11 Mark Martin, No. 12 Carl Edwards. Hamlin, Busch and Edwards have never won a plate race.

4—Drivers in the top 12 in points who posted a top-10 finish in the Daytona 500 earlier this year: No. 10 Greg Biffle (third), No. 1 Kevin Harvick (seventh), No. 7 Matt Kenseth (eighth), No. 12 Carl Edwards (ninth).

6—Times in the past 10 July races at Daytona there has been a caution within the first 20 laps, including the first lap in both 2004 and ’05. The longest green-flag stretch during that span is 88 laps, in ’01, with an average of 64.

6—Times in the past seven July races at Daytona that didn’t end under caution that the winning margin of victory was less than 1 second, with Jamie McMurray’s victory by .005 seconds in 2007 being the smallest during that span. Greg Biffle won by more than 4 seconds in ’03.

7—Times in the 47 races at Daytona that have been scheduled for 400 miles that there has been a last-lap pass for the victory, most recently by Tony Stewart last year. The final lead change has taken place within the final 20 laps 30 times and in the last 10 laps 19 times.

8—Times in the past 11 July races at Daytona the last green-flag stretch has been less than 10 laps, including four that ended under caution (including the only green-white-checkered finish in 2008).

25—July races at Daytona won from a top-five starting position, including 14 from the front row. Seven have been won from the pole position, including Tony Stewart last year, who started first based on owners’ points.

31—Summer races at Daytona held on the Fourth of July. The race was scheduled every year on July 4 from the inaugural in 1959 through ’87 (a total of 29 races). Since ’88, the race has been held on the closest Saturday to the Fourth with only two having fallen on that date—1992 and 2009. Note: July 4 fell on a Saturday in 1998, the first night race scheduled at the track, but had to be postponed due to wildfires. It was rescheduled for October.

151—Laps led by Tony Stewart in his July 2005 victory, the last time a driver, win or lose, led more than 100 laps in any race at Daytona. Stewart is the only lap-leader to win in the past 10 overall races at Daytona, having led 86 each in his summer victories in ’06 and ’09. In the other seven races, the winner led less than 10 laps five times and no more than 31.

1982—The most recent year the same driver won both Daytona races in the same season—Bobby Allison. It’s only happened four times overall—Fireball Roberts (1962), Cale Yarborough (’68), LeeRoy Yarbrough (’69). Note: The summer race in ’62 was only 250 miles. This year’s Daytona 500 winner, Jamie McMurray, has a summer victory at the track, in 2007.

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