Ranking the top 10 Daytona 500 races of all time
10. 2004
The 2004 Daytona 500 may not have had the closest finish on this list, but the race still holds as much significance as any. In 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr. passed away after a wreck on the final lap of the Daytona 500. Many fans will never forget the images of the wreck, nor the scene of Earnhardt Sr.’s son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., running to his father’s car at the track and eventually into Halifax Medical Center where his father was taken after the race. Earnhardt Jr. finished second in that race, and would later grab an emotional victory later that summer back at Daytona International Speedway in the Pepsi 400. However, the 2004 Daytona 500 would be equally emotional for many. Just three years after the tragic scene, Earnhardt Jr. drove one of the best races of his career, holding off Tony Stewart in the final laps in the No. 8 Budweiser car to win the Daytona 500 exactly six years to the day that his late father got his first victory in the “Great American Race.”
On this date in 2004, @DaleJr won the Daytona 500. pic.twitter.com/zwIeKKjnsn
— NASCAR Memories (@NASCARMemories) February 15, 2018
