Every NASCAR Race on Leap Day

BY JONATHAN FJELD & DOMINIC ARAGON

Leap Day is February 29 and with it coming around once every four years, there have only been three NASCAR races on that day.

NASCAR races on Leap Day

The first Leap Day race in NASCAR was the 1976 Carolina 500 at Rockingham Speedway. Richard Petty led 362 of 492 laps and won by two laps over Darrell Waltrip. It was Petty’s first win of the 1976 Cup season and his 178th win overall.

Rockingham Speedway again hosted a Leap Day race in 1992 – this time for the Xfinity Series.

Ward Burton won the Goodwrench 200, beating Mark Martin, Davey Allison, Dale Earnhardt and Kenny Wallace.

The third and most recent Leap Day race was in 2020 when the Xfinity Series raced at Auto Club Speedway (now California Speedway).

Harrison Burton – Ward’s nephew – held off Riley Herbst, Austin Cindric, Ryan Sieg and Justin Haley to win the Production Alliance Group 300.

While the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series have each raced on Leap Day, the Craftsman Truck Series hasn’t. The next opportunity for any NASCAR national series to race on a Leap Day is 2032 when it falls on a Sunday.

Other motorsports on Leap Day

While Formula 1 has never held a race on the extra day, IndyCar has.

Sam Hornish Jr. won the 2004 Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Phil Giebler also won the Indy Lights’ Homestead-Miami 100 that same day.

In 1976, John Harvey won an Australian Touring Car Championship at Symmons Plains Raceway. The ATCC is now known as the Repco Supercars Championship.

In 2020, Antonio Felix da Costa won the Marrakesh ePrix at the Circuit International Moulay El Hassan in Formula E.

Racers’ birthdays on Leap Day

• 1932: Masten Gregory – Winner of the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1965
• 1972: Brian Hoar – 3-time champion and 19-time winner in ACT Late Model Tour
• 2000: Max McLaughlin – 2021 DIRTcar Nationals champion, son of 6-time Xfinity Series winner Mike McLaughlin

Why does this day happen?

Leap Day occurs every four years to keep the calendar aligned with how the Earth revolves around the Sun and to keep seasons consistent.

Jonathan Fjeld contributed to this report.

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