One Texas Driver Has Ever Won the Prestigious Daytona 500

We know there are incredible race car drivers from Texas but only one has been able to win the biggest race in NASCAR. Since 1959, there have been over 60 different winners for NASCAR's coveted event to kick off the new season in February: the Daytona 500. We've had many to come close to winning the race but only one has represented Texas.

The only Texas driver to win the Daytona 500 was Houston's A.J. Foyt

The 4 time Indianapolis 500 winner, A.J. Foyt competed in NASCAR between 1963-1994. He's made 128 NASCAR starts with 7 wins & 9 poles to his name. Of those 7 career wins was the 1972 Daytona 500, where he led 167 laps driving the #21 for the Wood Brothers.

To this day, A.J. Foyt remains the only driver to win the Daytona 500, the Indy 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona & the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

We've seen other Texas drivers come close to winning the Daytona 500

The Labonte brothers from Corpus Cristi, Terry & Bobby, have raced many Daytona 500s in their careers but the closest they've ever come to winning the Big Race has been 2nd place. Terry's best finish was 2nd place during the 1986, the 1990, & 1997 Daytona 500. Probably the most well known was the 1997; Hendrick Motorsports got 1st, 2nd & 3rd place thanks to Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte & Ricky Craven.

Bobby's best finish came during the 1998 Daytona; he finished 2nd place to Dale Earnhardt, who won his first (and only) Daytona 500 win.

The only Texas driver who's active is Prosper's Chris Buescher. His best finish came during the 2020 Daytona 500; he got 3rd. He got 4th place in the 2023 Daytona 500. Of course the thing that people REALLY remember is the insane finish...

Will we see another Texas Daytona 500 winner? It's definitely possible but only time will tell.

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