2024 Daytona 500: 6th NASCAR Cup Series race on Presidents’ Day
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Because of the inclement weather in and around Daytona International Speedway this weekend, the Monday running of the Daytona 500 marked the sixth time NASCAR has run a points-awarding race on Presidents’ Day.
Throughout the 76-year history of the NASCAR Cup Series, the six Presidents’ Day races have all occured at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway.
The first race held on the holiday was the first Daytona 500 in 1959. The race saw Lee Petty named the eventual winner of the inaugural Great American Race.
Prior to William Byron’s win Monday, the most recent race held on Presidents’ Day was the 2020 Daytona 500. The race originally took the green flag the day before, but inclement weather pushed the rest of the race to the next day.
Denny Hamlin claimed his third victory in the Daytona 500 after a last-lap crash sent leader Ryan Newman to the hospital.
HISTORY
Presidents’ Day was signed into law by U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1879, originally applying to just Washington D.C. The holiday was expanded to a nationwide celebration in 1885.
The federal holiday was originally scheduled on February 22 — U.S. President George Washington’s birthday. After an executive order from President Richard Nixon in 1971, the holiday has been celebrated on the third Monday in February.
Four U.S. Presidents have their birthday fall in the month of February — George Washington, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan — but none of their birthdays coincide with the holiday.
NASCAR PRESIDENTS’ DAY WINNERS
1959 Daytona 500 Lee Petty
1963 Daytona 500 Qualifier Junior Johnson
1963 Daytona 500 Qualifier Johnny Rutherford
1970 Daytona 500 Pete Hamilton
2020 Daytona 500 Denny Hamlin
2024 Daytona 500 William Byron
SOURCES
History.com
Racing-Reference.info
TimeandDate.com
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.