2026 Daytona 500: Everything To Know About The Great American Race
#Daytona 500 #NASCAR #William Byron #Daytona International Speedway #The Great American Race #Motorsports #Florida
📌 Key Takeaways
- The 2026 Daytona 500 is scheduled for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET, with live coverage beginning early on FOX.
- A field of 41 cars will compete in the 200-lap, 500-mile race, which is divided into three distinct stages.
- William Byron enters the race as a top favorite, seeking a record-breaking third consecutive win.
- Qualifying involves a complex process including single-car runs and the Thursday 'Duels' to determine the final 40-car starting grid.
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🏷️ Themes
Motorsports, NASCAR, Sports Preview
📚 Related People & Topics
Daytona International Speedway
Motorsport track in the United States
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about 50 mi (80 km) north of Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. The venue also hosts the 24 Hours of...
Motorsport
Sport primarily involving the use of motorised vehicles
Motorsport (also called motorsports or powersports) are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific terms automobile sport, motorcycle sport, power...
NASCAR
American automobile racing company
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top-ranked motorsports organizations in the world and is one of the largest spectator sports league...
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Connections for Daytona International Speedway:
- 🌐 NASCAR Cup Series (2 shared articles)
- 🏢 Fox Sports (1 shared articles)
- 🌐 Live streaming (1 shared articles)
- 🌐 Stock car racing (1 shared articles)
- 🏢 NASCAR (1 shared articles)
📄 Original Source Content
The biggest spectacle of the NASCAR season has arrived — welcome to the Daytona 500! How long is the race? What time does it start? Can William Byron make it three straight victories? We've got you covered with a guide of everything to know about the 2026 Daytona 500 (Sunday, 2:30 PT on FOX). I assume this race is in Daytona Beach, Florida? Yes! Daytona International Speedway sits about five miles west of the ocean. It is a 2.5-mile tri-oval — mostly an oval shape but with a couple of doglegs with a slight turn between Turn 4 and Turn 1. The trioval is banked 18 degrees, while the turns are banked 31 degrees and the backstretch is banked 3 degrees. Daytona International Speedway, which opened in 1959 and was last repaved in 2010, seats 101,500. How many cars will compete? The field will be 41 cars. [DAYTONA 500 COUNTDOWN: 20 Most Memorable Moments in Race History] How do drivers get in? There are 37 drivers who are locked in and eight drivers are expected to vie for the final four sports. Two will get in through single-car qualifying Wednesday, which also sets the Daytona 500 front row. Two drivers not locked in also will get in through the duels Thursday, which set the lineup for the Daytona 500. For more detailed description of how a driver gets in, this story has all the info: How The Daytona 500 Lineup Is Set. What time does the Daytona 500 start? The listed start time is 2:30 p.m. ET. Coverage on FOX begins at 12:30 p.m. ET. What is the forecast? FOX Weather predicts (as of Monday morning) temperatures in the mid-70s with a 50 percent chance of rain. How long is the race? The race is 200 laps (500 miles). NASCAR races are split into stages. The first stage will be 65 laps. The second stage will be 65 laps. The final stage will be 70 laps. Which drivers are the favorites? Well, William Byron has won the last two Daytona 500s, so he is a favorite, but the odds of winning three consecutive Daytona 500s are remote — no driver has ever won three in a row. In fact, e