Daytona 500: William Byron celebrates win for Hendrick Motorsports
Daytona International Speedway hosted a Daytona 500 championship celebration for William Byron and Hendrick Motorsports Monday.
- The 2027 Daytona 500 will move off its traditional Presidents Day weekend date.
- This scheduling conflict is a result of the NFL adding a 17th game to its regular season in 2021.
It took several years, but the NFL’s addition of a 17th regular-season game has finally stiff-armed the Daytona 500 off its (mostly) traditional race date.
Getting ahead of things by 16 months, NASCAR has announced the 2027 Daytona 500 — NASCAR’s own “Super Bowl” — will move off Presidents Day weekend and instead take the green flag Sunday, Feb. 21, seven days after Super Bowl LXI, scheduled for Feb. 14 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
“It’s a very crowded sports landscape in February of ’27, including the Super Bowl scheduled for Feb. 14,” said Frank Kelleher, president of Daytona International Speedway. “The decision was made to move the Daytona 500, to allow for it to stand on its own.”
Next season’s 2026 Daytona 500 remains on Presidents Day weekend and is scheduled for Feb. 15. Kelleher said the Speedway and NASCAR feel “accountability” toward attending fans to let them know the next year’s date as soon as possible.
“Our fans are the most loyal, and we know many of them make their travel plans over a year in advance for the Great American Race,” Kelleher said.
“So we want that news out there right now, so when people are preparing, finalizing their trip for this upcoming year, when they’re here talking about renewing or extending their VRBO or Airbnb, or checking out a new hotel chain, they’ll know the dates they are looking at for the following year.”
Why the NFL crashed into the Daytona 500
This collision of dates first became possible in 2021 when the NFL added a 17th game to the regular season. With that additional week added to the slate, the Super Bowl began falling on the second Sunday of February.
February of 2027 will be the first time since the NFL schedule change that February’s second Sunday falls on the day before Presidents Day, which is traditionally the third Monday of the month. The date was officially announced last month.
NASCAR’s Daytona 500 has been all over February
The Daytona 500 debuted in 1959 on the weekend after Presidents Day, and through 1970 was held as early as Feb. 14 and as late as Feb. 27. The next 41 editions, from 1971 to 2011, the 500 was held on the Sunday preceding February’s third Monday, and returned there in 2018 after racing a week later for six years.
The Daytona 500 has been run at least once on every day between Feb. 14-28. The one Feb. 28 running came with an asterisk, and it actually also included Feb. 29. Scheduled for Feb. 27, daylong rains postponed the race before it began, with a new start time planned for the next afternoon.
But it was moved to Monday night — a 7 p.m. start — due to continued damp conditions. The infamous jet-dryer accident, resulting in the track catching on fire, brought out a two-hour red flag and it was after midnight before Matt Kenseth took the checkers.
If not for the 2012 Leap Year, that one would’ve technically finished in March.
