# Who is the best Daytona 500 winner of all time?

> Seven wins for one driver, one win after nineteen tries for another. The same trophy means very different things here.

*By YPB Team · Published September 11, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-best-daytona-500-winner-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Dale Earnhardt** — score 1000/1000
   Won the 500 in 1998 on his twentieth attempt, after nineteen years of near misses.
2. **Richard Petty** — score 912/1000
   Won the race a record seven times between 1964 and 1981.
3. **Cale Yarborough** — score 566/1000
   Four wins, and the driver at the centre of the 1979 last-lap fight.
4. **Kevin Harvick** — score 566/1000
   Won in 2007 by 0.020 seconds as the field crashed behind him.
5. **Jimmie Johnson** — score 566/1000
   Won in 2006 and 2013 during his seven-championship run.
6. **Michael Waltrip** — score 500/1000
   Won in 2001 for his first career victory, in the race that killed Earnhardt.
7. **Darrell Waltrip** — score 500/1000
   Won in 1989 at his seventeenth attempt and cried in victory lane.
8. **Trevor Bayne** — score 500/1000
   Won in 2011 the day after his twentieth birthday, in his second Cup start.
9. **Bobby Allison** — score 423/1000
   Won three, the last in 1988 ahead of his son Davey.
10. **Joey Logano** — score 423/1000
   Won in 2015 at 24, one of the youngest winners of the race.
11. **Bill Elliott** — score 333/1000
   Won in 1985 and 1987, the second at a record average speed.
12. **Jeff Gordon** — score 227/1000
   A three-time winner, in 1997, 1999 and 2005.
13. **Denny Hamlin** — score 227/1000
   Won in 2016 by 0.010 seconds, then again in 2019 and 2020.
14. **Sterling Marlin** — score 227/1000
   Back-to-back wins in 1994 and 1995 for his first two career victories.
15. **Matt Kenseth** — score 227/1000
   Won in 2009 and 2012, the second in a Monday-night finish.
16. **Dale Jarrett** — score 100/1000
   Three wins, including a 1993 duel with Earnhardt called by his father on television.

Tags: usa, drivers, nascar, motorsport, daytona 500