NASCAR star issues 'special' Daytona 500 verdict after life-changing victory

Former NASCAR star Jamie McMurray has admitted he did not realize how special winning the Daytona 500 was until he did it himself.

These days, you can find McMurray as part of the FOX broadcast team covering the Cup Series, but during his racing days, he carved out a very strong career for himself.

Across 19 years in NASCAR's top division, the now 49-year-old competed in 584 races, winning seven of them and finishing in the top five and top 10 on 63 and 169 occasions, respectively.

Those seven victories came at some huge tracks such as Charlotte, Indianapolis, Talladega, and others, but McMurray's win at Daytona in The Great American Race in 2010 changed his life forever.

Jamie McMurray: Daytona 500 is special

Speaking on The Scene Vault Podcast, McMurray explained: “I did not know how special that was until I won it.

“I think it's because I was always pretty good at those type tracks, but I never went into any of them thinking like, 'I'm gonna win today', just because you have to get lucky at those. You have to put yourself in the right position, and things can change so fast.

“But after winning it and doing the media tour like the Letterman and all those shows that you do afterwards, you just do all this media and then…I mean that's 14 years ago, and every time I've been introduced since, they don't say Jamie McMurray, they say the 2010 Daytona 500 Champion, Jamie McMurray.

“After winning that, every year going back to Daytona, I'm like, ‘Man, it would be so special to win again’.

“I think you have to win that to appreciate the value of it.”

When is the 2026 Daytona 500?

After last week's Clash exhibition, The Great American Race officially kicks off the 2026 Cup Series season this Sunday, February 15.

45 drivers will do battle over the coming days, with qualifying, duels, and the race to look forward to.

Qualifying will take place on Wednesday (Feb. 11) at 8:15pm ET, with the Daytona Duels 1 and 2 following on Thursday (Feb. 12) night at 7pm ET and 8:15pm ET, with all of the action broadcast on FS1.

Sunday's (Feb. 15) Daytona 500 is scheduled to get underway at 2:30pm ET with live TV coverage on FOX.