Who Has Won the Most Daytona 500 Races?

Who has won the most Daytona 500 Races? As of 2010, the driver who has won the most Daytona 500 races is named Richard Petty. So, how many races has this record-breaking Daytona 500 driver won? Find out this, and more, here.

For a long time, the record for the most wins in Daytona 500 races has been held by the same man: a driver named Richard Petty. As of 2010, the legendary driver has accumulated 7 Daytona wins. The first of Richard Petty's wins took place in 1964, and the seventh win came 17 years later in February of 1981.

Richard Petty's Races

Richard Petty was the first to win back-to-back Daytona 500 races, which he did in 1973 and ’74. He also created history when he became the first (and only driver as of 2010) to win a Daytona 500 race in three different decades. He set this record when he won the 1981 event in an impressive but alarming fashion.

Petty took a gamble on the last stretch of the race, when he made a pit stop with 24 laps left. He was scheduled to have his tires changed, but only took fuel and stormed out of the pit. That was Petty’s last Daytona win, but it was enough to make him the man who has won the most Daytona 500 races. 

Since Petty’s last win in 1981, there have been a number of racers who have taken multiple Daytona 500 races, but none have had the career that Petty has when it comes to the 500 mile-long NASCAR race that’s referred to as “The Great American Race”.