The 62nd running of the Daytona 500 was held on February 16 and 17, 2020, finishing on Monday because of a rain delay. Denny Hamlin won NASCAR’s opening race in what used to be called—before transponders and high-definition television—a photo finish, crossing the line just 0.014 second ahead of Ryan Blaney, the second-closest margin of victory in the history of the race. In 1959, Lee Petty (No. 42) won in another photo finish, and HOT ROD’s Ray Brock was there to capture the action. All of the archive photos in this story were credited to Brock of our sister publication at the inaugural race.
Unofficial Winner
In ’59, Petty (No. 42) and Johnny Beauchamp (No. 73) had been battling each other for the lead throughout the last 30 laps of the race. They crossed the finish line shoulder to shoulder. Beauchamp was declared the unofficial winner and directed to the Victory Lane for the post-race celebration seen in this picture.
Upon Further Review
Petty and other racers and members of the press protested, however, claiming Petty had crossed the stripe first. After three days of poring over newsreels and photographs, NASCAR President Bill France, Sr. declared Petty the winner. Brock also snapped the last-lap photo seen at the top of this post, showing how close the cars were as they approached the finish line. The third car in the picture, No. 48, is driven by Joe Weatherly, who was a lap down. Lee Petty raced a total of 16 seasons in NASCAR and racked up a total of 54 wins. Beauchamp raced for five seasons and scored two wins. His last race was at Daytona in 1961.
Hamlin’s win in his No. 11 car at the 2020 race was this close:
Subscribe to the MotorTrend App for just $2 per month and follow along as NASCAR ALL IN: Battle For Daytona takes you on a motorsports journey unlike any you’ve seen before!
The post Daytona 500 Photo Finishes 61 Years Apart: 1959 and 2020 appeared first on MotorTrend.
Source: WORLD NEWS
