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Camping World 300 presented by Chevrolet

Venue	Daytona International Speedway
Corporate sponsor	Camping World and Chevrolet
First race	1959
Distance	300 miles (482.8 km)
Number of laps	120
Previous names	Modified Sportsman Race (1959-1965) Daytona Permatex 300 (1966-1977) Sportsman 300 (1978-1981) Goody's Sportsman 300 (1982-1984) Goody's 300 (1985-1995) Goody's Headache Powder 300 (1996) Gargoyles 300 (1997) NAPA Auto Parts 300 (1998-2001 EAS/GNC Live Well 300 (2002) Koolerz 300 (2003) Hershey's Kisses 300 (2004) Hershey's Take 5 300 (2005) Hershey's Kissables 300 (2006) Orbitz 300 (2007)

The Camping World 300 presented by Chevrolet is the first race of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season, held at Daytona International Speedway. It is held the day before the Daytona 500, and is considered the most prestigious event on the Nationwide Series calendar. Until 2002, it was the only Nationwide Series event to be held at Daytona International Speedway.

History

The race originates back to the Daytona Beach & Road Course during the 1948 NASCAR Modified series season, the first sanctioned races held by the organization. In 1950-1958, the race was held as part of the Modified/Sportsman Series, at the Beach Course. It was held the Saturday or Friday before the Grand National Series race also at the Beach course.

In 1956-1959, a race in the short-lived NASCAR Convertible Division was also held.

The race moved to the new 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway for 1959. It was scheduled the day before the Daytona 500, and ran a distance of either 200 or 250 miles. In 1966, the race became known as the Permatex 300, making it only the second race on the NASCAR schedule to be named for a corporate sponsor (the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside being the first). In 1968 the Permatex 300 was shifted from the Modifieds division to the newly organized NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division. In 1982, the Late Model Sportsman Division was reorganized into the modern day NASCAR Busch Grand National Series, and the race was sponsored by Goody's for several years. For 2008, the series becomes known as the NASCAR Nationwide Series, but its organizational structure remains the same.

Incidents

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the race was often ridiculed and exploited by local media for its frequent crashes and massive pileups. Several major accidents and fires over the years were blamed on the low level of experience by several of the drivers, and the older equipment used. The level of prestige held by the event, along with the relatively large purses, attracted numerous independent and one-off entries, contributing to the inexperience.

Inclement weather also plagued many early runnings.

The 1960 race is notable for having the largest pileup in NASCAR history. On the first lap, 37 cars crashed in turn four (out of a starting field of 75).

In 1981 and 2004, the race started on Saturday, but was halted by rain, and finished Monday, the day after the Daytona 500. The 1969 race was red flagged three times for rain.

Television

In the early 1990s, ESPN began airing the race same-day tape delay. In 1997-2000, the race was shown live on CBS, which also held broadcast rights to the Daytona 500 at the time. From 2001-2006, the live television rights to the race were held by FOX/FX (odd years) and NBC/TNT (even years). Under the current NASCAR television contract, the race is shown on ESPN/ABC. It is the only event of Speedweeks not shown on the FOX family of networks.

Past winners

Beach and Road Course

Year	Date	Driver	Car Make	Distance (miles)	Average Speed (mph)
Modified race
1948	February 15	Red Byron	Ford	98.4
1948	August 8	Fonty Flock	Ford	98.4
1950	February 4	Gober Sosebee	Ford	98.4
1951	February 10	Gober Sosebee	Ford	159.9	83.37
1952	February 9	Tim Flock		98.4	87.55
1953	February 14	Cotton Owens	Plymouth	98.4	91.54
1954	February 20	Cotton Owens	Plymouth	125	93.87
1955	February 26	Banjo Matthews	Ford	95*	N/A
1956	February 24	Tim Flock	Chevrolet	127.1	89.41
1957	February 15	Speedy Thompson	Plymouth	127.1	99.097
1958	February 21	Banjo Matthews	Ford	127.1	97.381

• 1955: Shortened from 125 miles due to a large crash and fire on the 17th lap which injured 3 drivers and 3 spectators.

Daytona International Speedway

Year	Date	Driver	Car Make	Winner's Prize (USD)	Distance (miles)	Average Speed (mph)
Modified Race
1959	February 21	Banjo Matthews	Ford	$2,400	200	146.484
1960	February 13	Marion Farr	Ford	$	250	116.610
1961	February 25	Jimmy Thompson	Ford	$	250	141.732
1962	February 16	Lee Roy Yarbrough	Ford	$3,050	250	146.723
1963	February 23	Lee Roy Yarbrough	Studebaker	$	250	147.010
1964	February 22	Tiny Lund	Ford	$6,500	200[1]	104.506
1965	February 13	Marvin Panch	Ford	$6,500	250	129.533
Daytona Permatex 300
1966	February 27	Curtis Turner	Ford	$7,100	300	144.520
1967	February 25	Jim Paschal	Plymouth	$7,250	300	148.188
1968	February 24	James Blackburn	Dodge	$8,700	300	140.423
1969	February 22	Lee Roy Yarbrough	Ford	$9,225	300	105.365[2]
1970	February 21	Tiny Lund	Ford	$11,850	300	133.316
1971	February 13	Red Farmer	Ford	$11,025	300	140.936
1972	February 19	Bill Dennis	Mercury	$8,450	300	135.627
1973	February 17	Bill Dennis	Mercury	$8,475	300	134.161
1974	February 16	Bill Dennis	Mercury	$8,525	270[3]	140.462
1975	February 15	Jack Ingram	Chevrolet	$9,700	300	138.107
1976	February 14	Joe Millikan	Dodge	$14,950	300	145.928
1977	February 19	Donnie Allison	Chevrolet	$16,325	300	154.396
Sportsman 300
1978	February 18	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	$15,450	300	162.675
1979	February 17	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	$13,950	172[4]	93.778
1980	February 16	Jack Ingram	Ford	$19,820	300	128.817
1981	February 14/16[5]	David Pearson	Pontiac	$15,115	300	129.419
Goody's Sportsman 300
1982	February 13	Dale Earnhardt	Pontiac	$14,700	300	154.529
1983	February 19	Darrell Waltrip	Pontiac	$16,100	300	147.642
1984	February 18	Darrell Waltrip	Pontiac	$18,060	300	156.613
Goody's 300
1985	February 16	Geoffrey Bodine	Pontiac	$32,713	300	157.137
1986	February 15	Dale Earnhardt	Pontiac	$29,843	300	148.924
1987	February 14	Geoffrey Bodine	Chevrolet	$33,147	300	155.106
1988	February 13	Bobby Allison	Buick	$30,550	300	132.825
1989	February 18	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	$34,457	300	131.211
1990	February 17	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$34,700	300	149.357
1991	February 16	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$38,532	300	144.192
1992	February 15	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$38,068	300	132.434
1993	February 13	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$39,375	300	146.440
1994	February 19	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$50,933	300	144.135
1995	February 18	Chad Little	Ford	$71,411	300	150.732
Goody's Headache Powder 300
1996	February 17	Steve Grissom	Chevrolet	$54,697	300	140.722
Gargoyles 300
1997	February 15	Randy LaJoie	Chevrolet	$82,337	300	149.688
NAPA Auto Parts 300
1998	February 14	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	$78,600	300	137.213
1999	February 13	Randy LaJoie	Chevrolet	$90,950	300	138.391
2000	February 19	Matt Kenseth	Chevrolet	$98,750	300	140.735
2001	February 17	Randy LaJoie	Pontiac	$96,270	300	135.152
EAS/GNC Livewell 300
2002	February 16	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	$77,775	300	147.662
Koolerz 300
2003	February 15	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	$89,625	300	143.770
Hershey's Kisses 300
2004	February 14/16[6]	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	$96,210	300	127.179
Hershey's Take 5 300
2005	February 19	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	$102,476	300	150.021
Hershey's Kissables 300
2006	February 18	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	$112,650	300	125.159
Orbitz 300
2007	February 17	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	$116,200	300	156.227
Camping World 300
2008	February 16	Tony Stewart	Toyota	$109,720	300	154.154
2009	February 14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	$89,895	300	138.479
2010	February 13				300

1. ^ 1964: Shortened from 100 laps / 200 miles due to late start caused by three hour rain delay
2. ^ 1969: Three red flags during the race due to rain
3. ^ 1974: Scheduled for 108 laps / 270 miles due to energy crisis
4. ^ 1979: Shortened to 69 laps / 172 miles due to rain
5. ^ 1981: Race started on Saturday February 14, halted after 11 laps due to rain, completed Monday February 16
6. ^ 2004: Race scheduled for Saturday February 14, but rescheduled to Monday February 16 due to rain

See also

• Winn-Dixie 250
• Daytona 500

References

• http://racing-reference.info
• Orlando Sentinel; microfilm; (1959-1981)