Question: What is more American than a beach party for more than a quarter of a million guests, most of whom are drunk on cheap beer, hyped up on sheer energy and all of them heartily cheering a few dozen glorified velocity-wielding junkies attempting to cheat death while glaring it in the face?

The answer is the Daytona 500. The race is an annual orgy of speed and violence disguised under the name of “The Great American Race”.

This year’s Daytona 500 promises to be another one of these days. It takes place at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. A field of 43 drivers will each attempt to etch their name in racing history, without engraving their faces into the thick concrete barriers that surround the track.

Every American, from an alcohol-abusing farmer in Nebraska, an Oprah worshipping housewife in Maine or a car thief in New Mexico knows what the Daytona 500 is. If you stop to casually ask someone you’ll see at least a hint of recognition, if not a glimmer in the eye as that person visualizes the high speed battle accompanied by the reek of burning oil, melting rubber and high pitched shriek of tortured engines as the cars hammer their way around the track.

How did the Daytona 500 manage to earn itself the status of the ‘Great American Race’ in our culture? Time and tall tales are the answer. As in all oral history, the further in time events drift by, so do they assume grander proportions until they are recounted with bated breath or become part of some religion.

In chronological order, here are a few random descriptions of nine moments that have become legend in the Daytona 500:

1959    On the third day…he gets a victory

In the very first Daytona 500, which was then less than a week old, there was a major controversy which perhaps set the stage for the future. Lee Petty and Johnny Beauchamp were battling down the homestretch, when the lapped car of Joe Weatherly suddenly became part of the trio. The three of them crossed the finish line at almost the same time, with Beauchamp pronounced the winner and given the full Victory Lane Treatment.

But three days later, when news footage was screened, it clearly showed that Petty had actually won the race. The decision was reversed and Petty was given the $250,000 prize money along with the Harley J. Earl Trophy.

1963    Days of Thunder

This event was written up in the movie “Days of Thunder” featuring Tom Cruise and is based on fact:

10 days before the 5th annual Daytona 500, the ace driver Marvin Panch was seriously injured when his Maserati burst into flames during a test run. From his hospital bed, Panch asked the owners to put his great friend, the journeyman racer, Tiny Lund, into his famed No. 21 Ford and let him enter the race.

The owners decided to gamble, and gave Lund a chance of becoming famous.

Lund and his pit crew decided to take a big gamble on the question of pit stops during the race. In the end, he stopped fewer times than anyone else and used only one set of tires for the entire three-hour race. Fortune, as always, favors the bold, and Lund won and dedicated his win to his injured friend who gave him the opportunity of racing.

1976 I think I can…I think I can…
This was to be an epic race, featuring The King against The Silver Fox. Included was Mercury against Dodge, South Carolina versus North Carolina and not least Richard Petty against David Pearson.

Petty was leading on the last lap when Pearson passed him down the back stretch. Screaming out of turn four, Petty tried to drift and slingshot past Pearson, but he didn’t quite make it.

The two cars touched and both crashed on the infield grass just a tantalizing distance short of the finish line.

Petty’s car wouldn’t restart and against all odds Pearson’s engine was still running. Pearson put his car in gear and stuttered across the finish line to earn the checkered flag.

1976 The Fight
This tale is considered by worshipers in the Speed Cult as the most momentous in the history of The 500.

It was the last lap and Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough were dominating the field when the two bumped fenders and crashed in turn three. Their exit from the race precipitated a wild scramble to the finish and opened the door for Richard Petty to win his sixth checkered flag at Daytona.

What was so special about this? The crash was intriguing, but what really made this moment so memorable was the confrontation that ensued afterwards.

Donnie and Cale went after one another in the pits and had to be restrained by their crews. Things had cooled off a bit, and then Bobby Allison made his way over and started shooting his mouth off. Yarborough proceeded to smash Bobby in the face with his helmet, while the television announcer famously exclaimed - “The tempers are overflowing!”

This fight, which took place in front of live television cameras was seen around the world. It created enormous comment and sparked great interest in the general public, all of which helped put NASCAR on the map.

1988 Father’s Day on Valentine’s Day
According to the psychiatrists, the competitive ‘thing’ that exists between fathers and sons is very real. Read this story of a great struggle between father and son which took place at 170 miles per hour.

Bobby Allison, at 50 and in the twilight of his career, was desperately clinging to the lead late in the race. His closest challenger was young racer on the verge of super stardom, none other than his 25 year old son, Davey.

Davey consistently harassed his old man over the final few laps of Daytona’s first-ever restrictor plate race, but he couldn’t find a place to pass. Dad held on by two car lengths, and the on-board cameras caught father and son waving to one another - sharing the moment - almost instantly after passing the finish line.

After two decades of near misses, near wins and a lot of bad luck, ‘The Intimidator’ finally won at Daytona on his 21st try. The signature moment from this race was Dale’s victory drive up pit row afterwards when everyone involved in racing - rival drivers, pit crews and even members of the media all came rushing out to congratulate him. Fans watching in bars across the country were crying in their beers and blowing their noses into their jean jackets when Dale finally made it!

2001 The Devil gets his due
Dale Earnhardt’s continuous bad luck at DIS was both legendary and surreal, and the Daytona 500 was clearly his nemesis. But after his 1998 win it seemed as if he had finally conquered the demons. Then fate intervened and the demons had their revenge just three short years later.

Even though he had one of the best cars on the track, Earnhardt backed off in the last lap to let his son and the man he considered a brother, Michael Waltrip, battle to see who would win their first-ever 500. While trying to hold back the rest of the field, Earnhardt was bumped by Sterling Marlin and crashed suddenly. He suffered massive head injuries and died very soon after.

Total shock and disbelief filled the entire race track that day when the news spread around that Dale Earnhardt had died. Fans stood around unable to accept the news. Dale Earnhardt had been Mr. Daytona himself – how could he no longer be there?

But the news was correct and Dale was gone.

One of the most frequent recurring themes of the Daytona 500 is clearly the families who share in the agony and ecstasy of the great event. Whether it was the Allison’s, the Petty’s, the Waltrip’s or the Earnhardt’s, there is a sense of kinship and custom that doesn’t exist to the same degree in other sports.

There is no moment that can describe that mixture of tradition and lineage better than the 2004 race. On the same track that took the life of his famous father three years previously, Dale Jr. conquered the Daytona International Speedway to win “The Great American Race”.