Daytona 500 2025

 

Speaking of racing and Daytona, just today, at the other Yuuuuge Daytona race, known as The Daytona 500, held at the Daytona International Speedway, for the 67th year in a row, President Trump surprised everybody when he showed up at the NASCAR event:

President Trump's limousine, named "The Beast" is pictured below arriving onto the Daytona 500 International Raceway before the race got started today.

President Trump's visit to the DAYTONA 500 represents only the 3rd time a President has attended the event. In the photo below, in the bottom left hand corner we see President Trump standing alone with his young granddaughter just after he arrived at the Daytona 500.

President Trump seemed to be the champion at the Daytona 500, and in the image below we see him shaking hands with legendary NASCAR racer, Richard Petty. 

Below we see NASCAR racer and 2025 Daytona 500 commentator, Clint Bowyer, and he is rocking a gold Rolex Daytona.

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds performed at the 2025 NASCAR Daytona 500, and I excited as I am working on an amazing follow-up story to my previously published story named, "The Complete History of The Rolex Thunderbird and Rolex Turn-O-Graph."

Below is a live video stream from the Daytona 500 that captured the beginning of the event in case you missed it.

Daytona 500 & NASCAR Legend Richard Petty Rolex Daytona...

The King

Richard Petty

NASCAR RACING LEGEND

Richard Petty is nicknamed "The King" of Racing. He won the Daytona 500 a record 7 times as well as Nascar 7 times along with 200 unfathomable other NASCAR races during his career! I recently discovered the 1973 Rolex ad Richard Petty appeared in which tells the story about how he began wearing Rolex watches in 1964, which means he has now been wearing Rolex watches for 56 years!!!

Petty is considered by many to be the the greatest NASCAR driver in history and today he is 80 years young. Richard Petty represents a key part of NASCAR history, and you can learn much more about this rich history by reading my story titled, "The Complete History Of The ROLEX DAYTONA."

Richard Petty's father was also a racer named Lee Petty who won the Daytona 500 in 1959 and was also a 3 time NASCAR winner. Richard Petty is pictured above and below wearing his trademark stainless Rolex Daytona with the black dial. It is hard to find photos of Richard's Daytona, because, like Astronaut John Glenn, he wears his Rolex flipped around his wrist.

William France

Founder of NASCAR

William France Sr., is a key character in the history of the Rolex Daytona and he is pictured below in the Rolex NASCAR ad from 1960. William France grew up in Maryland and when he was a kid, he did not attend school, instead he raced laps in his family Model T Ford.

William France Rolex Zephyr Ad from 1960 pictured above 

In 1965, Rolex formally introduced the Rolex Chronograph as seen in the ad below.

1970 Rolex Daytona Cosmograph Brochure

Richard Petty is pictured below with A. J. Foyt on the 4th of July in 1975.

You are in for a real treat if you watch the Richard Petty Documentary below, which is narrated by Kevin Costner.

A.J. Foyt and Richard Petty...

...Rolex Wearing Racing Legends...

A.J. Foyt & Richard Petty

What do racing legends A.J. Foyt and Richard Petty have in common, beside being two of the most winning race car drivers in history? Wearing Rolex, of course, and we see them hanging-out together on the 4th of July, back in 1975. A.J. Foyt is wearing his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date in the photo below, and Richard Petty has not yet began sporting his now trademark mustache...

Joe Weatherly 1962 and 1963 NASCAR Champion Rolex Datejust

...Rolex NASCAR Racing History...

Joe Weatherly

1962 and 1963 NASCAR Champion

Rolex Datejust

2013 represents the 50th anniversary of the Rolex making the Rolex Daytona, but there are still many unanswered questions about the origins of the Rolex "Daytona" dial designation. This 1962 Rolex advertisement appeared in Car & Driver Magazine, and it offers clues. It is peculiar, since Rolex is showcasing the Datejust as the choice of a NASCAR champion, and not the Daytona!?!

Also, notice the ad states "Official Timepiece, Daytona International Speedway." Later in the year, I will shed more light on the significance of this. Joe Weatherly went on to win to also win the 1963 NASCAR Championship. Unfortunately "Little" Joe Weatherly was killed during in a racing accident during the 1964 Motor Trend 400 at Riverside Raceway. 

Rolex Racing Legend Roger Penske

Rolex Racing Legend

Roger Penske

Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date

Roger Penske is the owner and founder of Penske Racing and he is an ultra-succesful automotive product entrepreneur. He began his career as a race car driver and in the early 1960s he stopped driving and put together one of the most NASCAR and IndyCar racing teams.  Roger Penske is pictured below in a photo from 2000 wearing a Rolex OysterDate Day-Date. Roger Penske has been wearing Rolex watches for many years, and also wears a yellow gold Rolex Yacht-Master.

1986 Rolex Day-Date with Bark Finish

Below we see a Rolex Magazine Ad featuring Sir Jackie Stewart with fellow racing legend, Roger Penske.

Rolex Daytona History...

Origin Of The Word "Cosmograph"

& The History of The Daytona Designation

I contributed to a fascinating conversation on RolexForums.com about the origin of the word "Cosmograph" and I learned some really fascinating facts from Larry who is a moderator who's handle is "Tools." (Larry lives in the Mojave Desert and currently has 12,344 posts!!!)

Larry wrote:

"Rolex registered the name Cosmograph in 1953, and as has been said, it was used on their Moonphase until 1956. Rolex used the simple "Chronograph" under the name on the standard 2 sub-dial models.

They began using Cosmograph on their three dialed Chronographs ..

They didn't start using the word "Daytona" on any watches until about 1962 when a few were given that additional name to capitalize on the growing hot-rod and especially NASCAR racing that was becoming popular.. In 1966 they were the official time-keeper at the NASCAR Daytona Race. You might say that Daytona was mostly a commemorative designation on the dial.

Cosmograph's can be found both with and without the "Daytona" on the dial all through the 60's and 70's....

After a few years, this simple name (Daytona) became the standard way of referring to the Rolex Cosmograph whether it was a Daytona or not.... so it wasn't until the late 70's or early 80's that Daytona badging started to appear on all Cosmo's."

I believe the photo below illustrates how the exact same model of Rolex Cosmograph which is a Chronograph appears with and without the "Daytona" designation. Thanks for sharing Larry. You can check out the thread on RolexForums.com by clicking here.

The two Rolex Chronographs [Reference 6263] pictured above are identical in every way except the one on the right has a Daytona Designation on the dial and the one on the left does not.