For the first time since 2020, the final year of his term as the 45th President of the United States, President Donald J. Trump visited Daytona International Speedway for the NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon.
And his visit included some pretty interesting similarities to his visit from five years ago, which also took place on February 16.
The 47th President led the field in his heavily armored presidential limousine, "The Beast", just as he did ahead of the start of the 62nd running of the "Great American Race" in 2020. And just like in 2020, the race was stopped after only a handful of laps due to rain.
The similarities certainly don't end there.
The race in 2020 didn't get restarted until Monday afternoon, whereas this year's did get back underway on Sunday.
But both races started late enough that they lasted well into the night, and by the time they both got back underway, Trump had already departed from the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval in Air Force One.
Both races saw an incident leading into turn one on the final lap for which NASCAR did not throw the yellow flag, which would have ended the race. And both times, it was the right call.
Both races saw Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin doing what he could do to get around a Team Penske Ford on the final lap. In 2020, it was Ryan Blaney. In 2025, it was Austin Cindric. And both races featured a multi-car crash – ironically involving, but not triggered by, Corey LaJoie – which ultimately affected the outcome.
In 2020, it was Ryan Newman being sent airborne off the front of Blaney's car, allowing Hamlin to scoot past and take the win; the caution did not come out until after the leaders had taken the checkered flag.
And in 2025, it was Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron who managed to scoot past six cars in front of him and take the checkered flag. Once again, the yellow didn't fly until after the leaders had finished the race.
In 2020, Hamlin became the first back-to-back Daytona 500 winner since Sterling Marlin won it in 1994 and 1995. And in 2025, Byron became the first back-to-back Daytona 500 winner since Hamlin.
In both cases, the driver in second place was seeking his first Daytona 500 win after having won for the first time on a superspeedway – both times, Talladega Superspeedway – during the previous season: Blaney in 2020 and 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick in 2025.
Will Donald Trump be back at the Daytona 500 in 2026?
President Trump's visit marked only the third instance of a sitting president attending the Daytona 500 race; George W. Bush attended in 2004. However, Trump had been a regular at the track as a fan before his first term in office, attending the event each year from 1998 to 2001.
After becoming the first ever sitting president to attend the Super Bowl one week prior, it was not announced until late in the week that Trump was expected to attend the Daytona 500, and such visits are generally kept under wraps until relatively late. So there is no telling whether he'll be back in 2026.
The 2026 Daytona 500 is expected to take place on Sunday, February 15.