NASCAR: Who has the most Daytona 500 wins all-time?

The 65th annual Daytona 500 is scheduled to take place this Sunday. Who has the most wins in the history of the famed NASCAR Cup Series race?

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to get underway this Sunday afternoon with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, a race that has been contested annually since 10 years after the first Cup Series season.

This year’s running of the 200-lap Great American Race at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, which is set to open up the 75th season of Cup Series competition, is the 65th.

The first 64 editions of the race have seen a total of 41 different winners, including 12 who have won it multiple times. Those 12 drivers account for 35 Daytona 500 victories.

No NASCAR driver has won more Daytona 500s than Richard Petty, nor has anybody come close.

Petty owns an all-time record seven victories in the race, and only one other driver has more than three. That driver, Cale Yarbrough, owns four.

Four drivers have three wins, including Bobby Allison, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, and Denny Hamlin. Six others have two, including Bill Elliott, Sterling Marlin, Michael Waltrip, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Seven former winners are in this year’s Daytona 500 field, including two with multiple victories, though one of those drivers isn’t locked in. Hamlin is going for a fourth Daytona 500 win while Johnson, who hasn’t competed in the race sine 2020, is going for a third. Johnson isn’t locked into the race since he is driving a non-chartered car.

The other five former winners in this year’s field are Kevin Harvick (2007), Joey Logano (2015), Austin Dillon (2018), Michael McDowell (2021), and Austin Cindric (2022).

Just four drivers have ever won Daytona 500s in back-to-back years. Petty won it in 1973 and 1974, Yarborough won it in 1983 and 1984, Marlin won it in 1994 and 1995, and Hamlin won it in 2019 and 2020. Of those four drivers, Marlin is the only driver who won his second Daytona 500 the year after winning his first. Can Cindric become the second?

Tune in to Fox at 2:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, February 19 for the live broadcast of the 65th annual Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don’t miss it!