{"id":4724,"canonical_url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1959ce-feb-22--4724","name":"1959 CE, February 22","year":1959,"era":"CE","month":2,"day":22,"url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1959ce-feb-22--4724","iso-date":"1959-02-22","precision":"year-month-day","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe first Daytona 500 takes place on February 22, 1959, at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway in Florida with 59 cars. The Inaugural race was won by Lee Petty in a controversial and dramatic photo finish that took three days to officially settle after Johnny Beauchamp was initially declared the winner and even celebrated in Victory Lane.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","additional_details":"\u003cp\u003eSixty one hours later, after reviewing newsreel footage including a famous photograph by T. Taylor Warren, Bill France Sr. NASCAR founder, declared Petty the winner by roughly two feet Lee Petty drove a No. 42 Oldsmobile, averaging a speed of 135.521 mph. He earned a purse of $19,050 with his win.\u003c/p\u003e","photo":"","created_at":"2026-02-22T18:00:20-08:00","updated_at":"2026-02-22T18:09:57-08:00","breadcrumbs":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"February History","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"February 22","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february-22"}]},"schema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Thing","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1959ce-feb-22--4724#eventK365","name":"1959 CE, February 22","headline":"The first Daytona 500 takes place on February 22, 1959, at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway... - 1959 CE","description":"The first Daytona 500 takes place on February 22, 1959, at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway in Florida with 59 cars. The Inaugural race was...","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1959ce-feb-22--4724","additionalType":"HistoricalEvent","inLanguage":"en","datePublished":"2026-02-22T18:00:20-08:00","dateModified":"2026-02-22T18:09:57-08:00","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#organizationK365"},"temporalCoverage":"1959-02-22","isPartOf":[{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#websiteK365"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february","name":"What Happened in February History"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february-22#pageK365","name":"What Happened on February 22"}]}}