Daytona International Speedway

The sport’s most famous and storied track has become synonymous with NASCAR.

The 2.5-mile track near NASCAR’s headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla. plays host to two of the sport’s biggest races – the season-opening Daytona 500 and the July Fourth weekend Coke Zero 400.

Known as “The Great American Race,” the Daytona 500 caps two weeks of NASCAR racing at the famed track, beginning with the exhibition Budweiser Shootout and also featuring the popular Gatorade Duel qualifying races.

The track has featured some of NASCAR’s best races since Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500 in a photo finish.

With 31 degrees of banking in the corners and 3,000- to 3,800-foot straightaways, the track features some of the most exciting racing in the sport, with the aerodynamic draft leading to bumper-to-bumper and two- and three-wide competition.

The Daytona 500 has featured some of the greatest and most famous finishes in NASCAR history. The 1976 race featured David Pearson beating Richard Petty after both drivers wrecked heading to the checkered flag and coasted across the finish line. Petty won the 1979 race while brothers Bobby and Donnie Allison fought with Cale Yarborough in the Turn 4 grass after a wreck on the final lap of the race.

While Petty, Pearson and Yarborough top the list of Daytona’s greatest drivers, the track has also produced some shocking upsets over the years, none bigger than 20-year-old rookie Trevor Bayne winning the 2011 Daytona 500.