February 22, 1959 saw the first Daytona 500 run at the famed track in Florida. The competitors that showed up for the race had no idea what they were getting themselves into as they glared at the monstrous oval. The drivers had been used to going the distance. After all the beach course was over four miles long, but to actually gaze at the high banked 2.5 mile tri-oval from the infield sent shivers through the likes of Lee Petty, Johnny Beauchamp, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, and the rest of the drivers that had come to compete.
All of the manufacturers had sent their best, Ford Thunderbird, Plymouth, Dodge, Pontiac, Chevy and Oldsmobile were all represented. Each car was modified for the track, but none had come prepared to run such a big track at speeds that they hadn’t seen before. The men of steel buckled into their cars and took to practice on the track. They soon found out that the cars may not hold up to the pressure of the track.
Qualifying went smooth, but the race was a different story. When the race started, it didn’t take long before several cars were parked in the pits with mechanical failure, and two drivers emerged as dominant parties on the track. Lee Petty, driving a Plymouth, soared around the turns in relative ease, and looked like he would be the car to beat for the day. His mastery of the newness of drafting seemed to come easy for the Randleman, North Carolina driver. He had done his homework and chosen the right gear for the car, not using up the valuable engine that had to go the distance.
Just behind him was Johnny Beauchamp driving a T-Bird. Beauchamp drafted with Petty for most of the race as the two put the entire field at least a lap down before the end of the day. Other drivers tried to keep up. Lee’s son Richard even admitted that most were just along to figure out how to run on the huge track. Speeds were in the 130 MPH range, and the stock suspensions took the beating of a lifetime before the race was over.
As the race wound down, Petty was out in front of Beauchamp, but coming out of turn four with two laps to go, Beauchamp challenged. He brought along with him, Joe Weatherly, who was two laps down, but could still run with the leaders. Weatherly stayed with the pair and drafted with them, keeping the race close. On the last lap, Beauchamp made his move to the inside of Petty. Weatherly would go to the outside and Petty squeezed into the middle. As the three cars came down the front straight, the crowd was on their feet trying to figure out who would win the first ever Daytona 500. The three cars came across the finish line so close, that no one knew who to give the win to.
It didn’t take long to figure out that Weatherly was two laps down, and the winner was declared to be Beauchamp. As he celebrated in victory lane, the protest from Petty’s crew started. Things didn’t move along as fast as they do today, and a newsreel had to be found for review. The official results took three days to determine and on Wednesday, Febuary 25,1959, Lee Petty was declared the winner of the first Daytona 500. Without a time clocks, it’s hard to say what the margin was on that day. Lets just say, he won by a bumper.
Ford and Beauchamp protested the decision but to no avail. Lee Petty would go into the record books as the winner, continuing the foundation for the Petty dynasty of NASCAR in it’s early years.

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