2005 Daytona 500
47th Daytona 500
The 2005 Daytona 500, the 47th running of the event, was held on February 20, 2005, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. Dale Jarrett won the pole and Jeff Gordon won the race, making this his third Daytona 500 win. Kurt Busch finished second and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third.
As the result of NASCAR's implementation of the green-white-checker finish rule the previous season, the race had three extra laps due to a caution with three laps to go, reaching a total distance of 203 laps and 507.5 miles (816.7 km). Because of that, this was the first Daytona 500 to go longer than 500 miles. It was also the first Daytona 500 to end at sunset, around 6:18 pm EST.
A crowd of 200,000 people were estimated to have attended this race.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver
(W) denotes past 500 winner
Qualifying and Gatorade Duels
Three-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Jarrett won his third pole for this race with a speed of 188.312 miles per hour (303.059 km/h). 2001 and 2003 winner Michael Waltrip won the first Gatorade Duel and 2002 Cup Series champion Tony Stewart won the second. The main story focusing on the Gatorade Duels was an accident involving Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick, which turned into a minor feud.
The public source identifies “2005 Daytona 500” as 47th Daytona 500. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Daytona and 47th.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “2005 Daytona 500”, the useful work is to connect “47th Daytona 500” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4604181. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2005, 2001, 2003 and 2002.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “2005 Daytona 500”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 2005 Daytona 500 primary sources, 2005 Daytona 500 archive and Daytona research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “2005 Daytona 500”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “2005 Daytona 500” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.