The Daytona 300, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the United Rentals 300, is the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, 300-mile-long (483 km) held at Daytona International Speedway. It is held the day before the Daytona 500, and is considered the most prestigious event of the Xfinity Series. Until 2002, it was the only event of the Xfinity Series to be annually held at Daytona International Speedway. Austin Hill won the most recent race, in 2024.
Regan Lee Smith is an American former professional stock car racing driver and a current pit reporter for Fox NASCAR. He most recently drove part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro SS for JR Motorsports.
JR Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, CARS Tour, and occasionally in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. The team is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, co-owned by former NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Kelley’s husband and former racer L.W. Miller, and the owner of his former Cup Series team, Rick Hendrick. As of 2023, the team fields four full-time entries in the Xfinity Series: the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro SS full-time for Sam Mayer, the No. 7 Camaro full-time for Justin Allgaier, the No. 8 Camaro full-time for Sammy Smith, and the No. 9 Camaro full-time for Brandon Jones. The team also fields the No. 88 Camaro part-time for Bubba Pollard, Carson Kvapil, Connor Zilisch, and team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The Wawa 250 Powered By Coca-Cola is a NASCAR Xfinity Series race that is held at Daytona International Speedway. Scheduled as a 250-mile (400 km) race, it is held the night before the NASCAR Cup Series' Coke Zero Sugar 400, and was run on Independence Day weekend until 2019.
Michael Wayne Annett is an American retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports.
The Big One is a phrase describing any crash usually involving five or more cars in NASCAR, ARCA, and IndyCar racing. It is most commonly used at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, although occasionally seen at other tracks as well, such as Dover Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International.
Austin Reed Dillon, self-nicknamed "the Ace", is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. He is the grandson of RCR team owner Richard Childress, the older brother of Ty Dillon who competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the son of Mike Dillon, a former racing driver who currently works as RCR's general manager.
Trevor Mitchell Bayne is an American professional stock car racing driver, dirt racing driver, team owner, and businessman. He is currently the Competition Advisor for Legacy Motor Club. He is the youngest person to ever win the Daytona 500, the largest event in NASCAR, doing so a day after his 20th birthday in 2011. The win came in only his second race in NASCAR's top series, and was his only victory in 187 total Cup Series starts.
The 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series was the 29th season of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the second-tier professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. Beginning at Daytona International Speedway, the season included thirty-five races, which ended with the Ford 300 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Brad Keselowski clinched the drivers' championship during the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway, two races before the season finale at Homestead, while Joe Gibbs won the owners' championship. Toyota won the manufacturers' championship with 240 points.
The 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series was the 31st season of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the second-tier professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season included thirty-three races, down from thirty-four, and began with the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway and ended with the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Chevrolet won the Manufacturer's Championship. Joe Gibbs won the Owners' Championship with the No. 18 car, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Roush Fenway Racing won the Drivers' championship with a sixth-place finish at the final race of the season.
The 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series was the 32nd season of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the second-tier professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season was contested over thirty-three races and started on February 23, 2013 at Daytona International Speedway, with the DRIVE4COPD 300, and ended on November 16 with the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing won the Drivers' Championship, becoming the first driver in the three major NASCAR series to do so without recording a win. The No. 22 entry of Penske Racing won the Owners' Championship, while Ford won the Manufacturers' Championship.
The 2013 Daytona 500, the 55th running of the event, was held on February 24, 2013, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida over 200 laps and 500 miles (800 km) on the 2.5-mile (4 km) asphalt tri-oval. It was the first race of the 2013 Sprint Cup season. Danica Patrick won the pole for the race, becoming the first woman to earn a pole position in NASCAR's highest division. She also achieved the best-ever finish by a woman at the Daytona 500, finishing 8th. Jimmie Johnson, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the race, making this his first win of the season and his second win in the "Great American Race" and his first since the 2006 race. His teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 2nd while Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Newman rounded out the Top 5.
The 2014 Daytona 500, the 56th running of the event, was held on February 23, 2014 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 200 laps and 500 miles (800 km) on the 2.5 miles (4.0 km) asphalt tri-oval, it was the first race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the race, making this his second Daytona 500 victory breaking a 55-race winless streak. Denny Hamlin finished 2nd, while Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the Top 5. This race had seven cautions and 42 lead changes among 18 different drivers. The top rookies of this race were polesitter Austin Dillon (9th), Alex Bowman (23rd), and Brian Scott (25th).
The 2015 Daytona 500, the 57th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race which was held on February 22, 2015 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 203 laps – extended from 200 laps due to a green–white–checker finish – on the 2.5 mi (4.0 km) asphalt superspeedway, it was the first race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Joey Logano won the race, recording the second Daytona 500 win for Team Penske, and his ninth career Sprint Cup victory. Kevin Harvick finished second while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top–five.
The 2015 Budweiser Duels were a pair of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car races that were held on February 19, 2015, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Both contested over 60 laps, they were the qualifying races for the 2015 Daytona 500. Hendrick Motorsports swept both races, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning the first Duel and Jimmie Johnson winning the second Duel.
The 2015 Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race that was held between July 5 and 6, 2015 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 161 laps – extended from the scheduled 160 laps – on the 2.5 mile (4 km) superspeedway, it was the 17th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race, his second win of the season. His teammate Jimmie Johnson finished second while Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.
The 2012 DRIVE4COPD 300 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held on February 25, 2012 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the first race of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season. The race was the 31st running of the event. Danica Patrick won the pole but in the race's end, a surprise winner happened with James Buescher winning his first and only Nationwide Series race of his entire career in an last lap wreck that took out most of the top 10 cars.
The 2011 DRIVE4COPD 300 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the first race of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series season. It was the 30th running of the event. Clint Bowyer won the pole and led the most laps of the race but it was Tony Stewart who beat his Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate to win his 4th Nationwide Series opener in a row and his 6th in the last 7 Nationwide Series openers by 0.007 seconds in one of the closest NASCAR finishes ever.
The 2010 Subway Jalapeño 250 powered by Coca-Cola was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held on July 2, 2010, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was the 17th race of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series. It was the 9th running of the event. The race was also the first for the new Nationwide COT Cars at a Superspeedway. Brad Keselowski won the pole but it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who led the most laps and took home an emotional victory as he drove the #3 Wrangler Jeans Chevrolet throwback scheme to victory lane and was the first Earnhardt to drive the #3 to victory lane since his father in 2000. Jr. later would say he would never run the #3 in his career ever again.
The 2010 DRIVE4COPD 300 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held on February 13, 2010, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was the first of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series. It was the 29th iteration of the event. The race featured the NASCAR debut of IZOD IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick. This would be the last race at Daytona for the Generation 4 cars as the Nationwide Series would debut their Car of Tomorrow cars at the next Daytona race. Kyle Busch won the pole since he was the reigning Series champion from the 2009 season after Qualifying got rained out but it would be Tony Stewart who led the most laps and won the race after starting in 32nd position and it would be his 3rd Nationwide Series opener in a row and his 5th of the last 6 opening races. But the race would be mostly remembered for a flip by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
