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The '''Daytona 500''' is a {{convert|500|mi|km|adjabbr=mid|-long|0on}} [[NASCAR Cup Series]] motor race held annually at [[Daytona International Speedway]] in [[Daytona Beach, Florida]]. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the [[Coke Zero 400]], and one of three held in [[Florida]], with the annual spring showdown [[Dixie Vodka 400]] being held at [[Homestead-Miami Speedway|Homestead]] south of [[Miami]]. From 1988-2019, it was one of the four [[restrictor plate]] races on the Cup schedule. The inaugural Daytona 500 was held in [[1959 Daytona 500|1959]] coinciding with the opening of the speedway and since [[1982 Daytona 500|1982]], it has been the season-opening race of the Cup series.<ref>{{cite book | title=Dover International Speedway: The Monster Mile | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | author=Chad Culver | year=2014 | location=53 | pages=127 | isbn=1467121371}}</ref>
The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar, carrying by far the largest purse.<ref>"Culture, Class, Distinction"Bennett, Tony. ''Culture, Class, Distinction''. [[Routledge]] (2009) Disaggregating cultural capital. English translation {{ISBN|0-415-42242-6}} (hardcover).</ref> Championship points awarded are equal to that of any other NASCAR Cup Series race. It is also the series' first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since [[1995 Daytona 500|1995]], U.S. [[Nielsen ratings|television ratings]] for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the [[Indianapolis 500]] which in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and international viewing. The [[2006 Daytona 500]] attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.<ref>{{cite news|title=World’s most watched TV sports events: 2006 Rank & Trends report |publisher=Initiative |date=2007-01-19 |url=http://initiative.com/static/prDec2006.html |accessdate=2007-01-30 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208200248/http://initiative.com/static/prDec2006.html |archivedate=2007-02-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
