The 2020 Daytona 500 is here and it’s the biggest racing event of the season! Unlike the Super Bowl or the World Series, the Daytona 500 starts NASCAR‘s season and a win or top 10 finish can really help a driver in the cup standings down the road. This year’s Daytona 500 can be seen on Fox, with the race starting at 2:30 p.m. ET. It can also be streamed on the Fox Sports Go Website or the Fox Sports Go app.
The Daytona 500 takes place at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida. The track is 2.5 miles long and it requires 200 laps to complete. Last year, Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500 and is one of two active drivers to have multiple victories in the race. The other is Jimmie Johnson, who will be racing in his final Daytona 500 on Sunday.
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“He won five (championships) in a row,” Chase Elliott said to USA Today. “Think about that. The seven championships is amazing, but five in a row? That’s about how many times I’ve won a race, which isn’t saying much. It probably won’t happen ever again.”
Elliott is considered to be one of the favorites to win the Daytona 500 and Johnson thinks he has a shot.
“I definitely think he’s the leader in the group moving forward,” Johnson said, adding that Elliott reminds him of a younger Dale Earnhardt Jr. “Chase has been on his own path, though. I’m so proud of him, and who he is and how he goes about his business.”
As for Hamlin, he’s hoping to win the Daytona 500 for the second-consecutive season, and it’s very possible based on how he’s performed in the race over the last decade.
“We’ve been very fortunate in the last eight to 10 years to be in contention for a lot of these Daytona 500s,” Hamlin said of his team this week at Daytona 500 media day. “Hopefully, we are able to miss [wrecks] again this year.”
Hamlin and Johnson are part of history as they are two of only 12 people to win the Daytona 500 multiple times. But it’s unlikely they will reach the level of Richard Petty as he’s won seven Daytona 500 races in his career.
Photo credit: Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
