The Wawa 250 Powered By Coca-Cola is a

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

race that is held at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

. Scheduled as a race, it is held the night before the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

Coke Zero Sugar 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car racing, stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on ...

, and was run on

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

weekend until 2019. Until 2006, there had been a different winner in each race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative ...

became the first repeat winner when he won the 2006 event. The 2010 running of the event marked the first of four races using the Nationwide Series version of the Car of Tomorrow, the other three being at Michigan, Richmond (September), and Charlotte (October).

Past winners

Notes

Races have been lengthened due to

NASCAR overtime The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

15 times, notable for being the most overtime finishes of any race in the series: * 2012 and 2013 252.5 miles (101 laps) * 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2024: 255 miles (102 laps) * 2006, 2014, and 2016: 257.5 miles (103 laps) * 2005, 2015, and 2017: 260 miles (104 laps) * 2008 and 2018: 262.5 miles (105 laps) * 2022: 295 miles (118 laps) * 2023: 275 miles (110 laps) The following races have been rescheduled from their original dates. * 2007: Postponed from Friday night to Saturday morning because of rain. * 2017 and 2021: Race started on Friday night, suspended until Saturday afternoon because of rain. * 2019 and 2022: Race started on Friday and finished after midnight on Saturday after a rain delay.

Multiple winner (driver)

Multiple winners (teams)

Manufacturer wins

Notable moments

*2003:

led all 100 laps en route to victory. *2004: First race in which the cars ran a roof spoiler. The last 10 laps involved several lead changes.

took the lead with 10 laps to go. With 3 laps remaining,

Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, racing team owner, amateur ballroom dancing competitor and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASC ...

and

Jason Leffler Jason Charles Leffler (September 16, 1975 – June 12, 2013) was an American professional open-wheel and stock car racing driver. Leffler began racing in the open-wheel ranks, competing in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 before moving to primari ...

passed Dale Jr., putting Waltrip in the lead. Leffler then went for the lead and the two cars raced nose-to-nose for over a lap before Waltrip cut in front of Leffler off Turn Two on the final lap; Leffler hit Waltrip and Waltrip's car spun into the inside wall. NASCAR kept the green flag out (there is often a caution flag when a crash occurs) as Dale challenged Leffler for the lead. Leffler swerved and Dale crashed into the wall in Turn Four, allowing

Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. Known for his investigative journalism, he interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade car ...

to pass everyone for the victory. Despite crossing the line second, Leffler was relegated to the last car on the lead lap for aggressive driving, giving

Greg Biffle Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969), nicknamed "the Biff", is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. After racing in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-1990s, he was recommended to Jack Roush by former race ...

(who finished 3rd) second. *2010:

drove a Chevrolet fielded by

Richard Childress Richard Reed Childress (born September 21, 1945) is an American former race car driver in NASCAR. Childress is the owner of Richard Childress Racing (RCR). In 2004, he opened a vineyard in the Yadkin Valley AVA near Lexington, North Carolina, Le ...

and numbered 3 to an unchallenged win. It was Junior's final time to drive the No. 3. *2011: With the new two-car tandem draft in effect,

Kevin Harvick Incorporated Kevin Harvick, Inc., colloquially referred to as KHI, is a racing team owned by former NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and his wife DeLana, who is the daughter of former Busch Series driver John Linville. The team owned cars in the NASCA ...

swept the top four positions in qualifying. The lead changed a then-race record 35 times, primarily between Cup drivers

Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards Jr. (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and a current analyst for ''NASCAR on Prime Video''. He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No ...

Kevin Harvick Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for '' NASCAR on Fox''. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewa ...

Jamie McMurray James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976), nicknamed "Jamie Mac", is an American former professional stock car racing driver and currently an analyst for ''Fox NASCAR'' and CW. He raced in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2003 ...

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed "Smoke", is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver, and former NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. He currently competes in the NHRA Top Fuel class. He is a four-t ...

Clint Bowyer Clinton Aaron Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado ...

as well as Nationwide Series regulars Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.,

Trevor Bayne Trevor Mitchell Bayne (born February 19, 1991) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, Dirt track racing, dirt racing driver, team owner, and businessman. He is currently a pit reporter for NASCAR on Prime Video, ''NASCAR ...

, and part-timer

Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver and model. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win ...

Eric McClure Eric Wayne McClure (December 11, 1978 – May 2, 2021) was an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 0 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports. Racing car ...

crashed hard after contact with teammate

Mike Bliss Michael Duane Bliss (born April 5, 1965) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A journeyman NASCAR competitor and the 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, he has run in all three national series. Racing career Bliss ...

, requiring a trip to the hospital. At the end of the race, a multi-car pileup involving 16 cars, ensued when Patrick, who had slapped the Turn One wall on the final lap, made contact with

approaching the start-finish line, enabling

Joey Logano Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No.22 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for NASCAR operations of Tea ...

and

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and par ...

to slip by and finish 1–2. *2012:

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American auto racing driver. He is best known for competing in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2000–2022, last driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. Busch is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series ch ...

, fired from Penske Racing the year before for several off-track incidents, stormed to the win in the most competitive Daytona race for NASCAR's second-tier touring series in any of its varied incarnations at the time (Late Model Sportsman, Busch Grand National, Nationwide Series). The lead changed a series track-record 42 times as on the final lap Busch roared past

and

Elliott Sadler Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Sadler is one of 36 dr ...

with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pushing him;

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ZL1 and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ...

' No. 3 raced into the fray pushed by Michael Annett in a

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "the King", is an American former stock car racing driver who competed from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most nota ...

No. 43; at the stripe Dillon got hit and spun through the trioval grass as Sadler tried for the win at the stripe; Dillon spun back into traffic and a huge crash ensued. *2015:

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

returned to NASCAR with the running of the Subway Firecracker 250 on

NBCSN NBCSN (also known as NBC Sports Network) was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Lif ...

. There were two big ones that happened, one with 10 laps to go and the other one with just 5 laps to go. *2018: Originally Justin Haley was thought to be the winner of the race, but video evidence revealed that he dipped below the yellow line and

Kyle Larson Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. ...

had actually won the race. There were two big ones that happened, one with 19 laps to go with 17 cars wrecked and the other one with just 3 laps to go with 11 cars wrecked. *2020: Third Daytona race of the 2020 season. A 300 km road course event was held on August 15. The event replaced the road course date at

Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track in the Northeastern United States, northeastern United States, located in Dix, New York, just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, Watkins Glen, at the ...

, which was removed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wawa 250 2002 establishments in Florida NASCAR Xfinity Series races Recurring sporting events established in 2002 Annual sporting events in the United States