Buddy Baker won the 1980 Daytona 500.

Mark Martin on May 10, 1997 running the Winston 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway with an average speed of 188.354 mph.

The Daytona 500s of 1959, 1961, and 1962 saw not a single caution.

This year the Daytona 500 is run in the month of February. Most of the drivers that qualified were ready to go by the time the green flag dropped.

The winner of the race this year was Sterling Marlin.

The date for the 2012 Daytona 500 was scheduled to be February 26th. The race was postponed due to rain and rescheduled for Monday, February 27th.

$1,525,275

Joey Logano is the youngest driver to start the Daytona 500. He was 19 years old when he started the 2009 Daytona 500.

The Indianapolis 500 is 200 laps. The "500" means 500 miles in race distance.

The race lasted 2 hours 51 minutes and 40 seconds. It was shortened to 152 laps of 200 due to rain and was won by Matt Kenseth.

The amount changes a little each year. But the second place driver usually earns around $1.1 million, with the winner receiving $1.5 million.

For example, in the 2013 Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr, finished second and earned $1,104,814. Junior also finished second in 2012, where he earned $1,103,150.

For the 2013 Daytona 500, the total purse was $17,678,827.

Dale Sr. won the Heinz Southern 500 on September 2, 1990, starting from the pole.

There is seating for 168,000. True race fans see the pilgrimage to the Daytona 500 as a must-do before they die. It is one of the most exciting race tracks.

Through the 2011 season, Michael Waltrip has started 766Nascar Cup races, 279 Nationwide races (formerly known as the Busch Series) and 9 Truck Series races.

Jeff Gordon has the most Daytona 500 wins for an active driver. He won the race three times (1997, 1999, 2005).

For winning the 2013 Daytona 500, Jimmie Johnson earned $1,525,275.

Lee Petty was the first Daytona 500 winner.

Red Byron was the first NASCAR driver to win the Daytona Beach Road Course

And the first NASCAR race was Charlotte Speedway, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Glenn Dunnaway was declared the winner, but a post-race inspection revealed that his car was fitted with illegal springs, causing NASCAR to disqualify him. Jim Roper was declared the official winner of the event.

In the 2013 Daytona 500, Danica Patrick earned $357,464for finishing eighth.

The booth announcers for the 1979 Daytona 500 were Ken Squier, David Hobbs and Chris Economaki. This was the first race shown live in its entirety on national television.

The lake in the infield of Daytona International Speedway was created by accident -- the hole that is now Lake Lloyd was filled with the dirt that was used to build up the track's high banks. The hole filled with ground water.