The Daytona 500 is NASCAR's Super Bowl by Vince Falcone The Daytona 500 for NASCAR is what the Super Bowl is to football. The only difference is that one is held before the season and the other is held after the season.
What makes winning the Daytona 500 so exciting is the prestige that comes along with winning at the Daytona International Speedway. Sure there is a nice payday involved but if you ask any driver that has won the big race they will tell you that the money is nice but it is something that they have been thinking about winning since they started driving.
After winning the big race your name gets put up there with the legends of NASCAR like "The King" Richard Petty and the legendary Cale Yarborough. These guys know how to drive a stock car that is for sure.
In 2004 the race was put more in the national spotlight when president George Bush had the honor of saying "Gentlemen start your engines" kicking off the start of the race. When you get a sitting president at your sporting event you know it's big. The growth of NASCAR has been huge as of late.
We always look forward to going to Daytona for the race but not only for the Daytona 500 but for the bud shootout which is held there also. That is always a lot of fun and full of excitement.
Of course leaving the cold northeast and taking a vacation to Florida in February is always a great idea. If you have never been to the Daytona 500 it should be on your To-Do list as it is one of the greatest sports events. Getting a Daytona 500 ticket is close to impossible as it is always sold out. Between the 200,000 people that go to the race there is millions of people that watch the race on television worldwide. If you live in a colder climate you may want to think about taking a vacation in sunny Florida and watch the race in person. The biggest moment in the Daytona 500 was when Dale Earnhardt sr. won it after many years and many laps. Dale was also involved in one of the saddest moments when he was killed on the last lap while running in the 43rd Daytona 500 back in 2001. The sport lost one of its greatest drivers of all time just when the sport was getting bigger. Dale was so nice he was even loved by his arch enemies. Race weekend in Daytona is sure to be filled with great moments and many fans will get to root for their favorite driver. Most fans in the crowd will be pulling for Dale jr. There will also be fans for Jeff Gordon as this has been one of his better tracks. Enjoy the race! For more information about other sports gift products choose from one of the following sports pages:
About The Author Vince Falcone is an Atlanta Falcon season ticket holder and he also knows NASCAR you can read more of his articles on http://www.sports-gift.com | 
