Opened in Daytona Beach, Florida on 22 February 1959, Daytona International Speedway is a large banking oval surrounding an infield and has hosted the Rolex 24 at Daytona since 1966.

Previously, endurance races at Daytona had been three hours long (1962 and 1963) then 2,000 km (1964 and 1965). Three 24 Hours of Le Mans winners had claimed the top step on the podium up to that point: Dan Gurney (1962), Pedro Rodríguez (1963 and 1964) and Phil Hill (1964). In 1972, six-time Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx won a six-hour race at the circuit driving a Ferrari 312 PB shared with Mario Andretti.

- In 1966 and 1967, the first two 24-hour races at the Daytona circuit were at the heart of the great duel between Ford and Ferrari. In 1966, the American marque won three hat tricks at Daytona (Ken Miles/Lloyd Ruby, Dan Gurney/Jerry Grant, Walt Hansgen/Mark Donohue) and Le Mans (Chris Amon/Bruce McLaren, Ken Miles/Denny Hulme, Ronnie Bucknum/Dick Hutcherson). At the 1967 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Italian manufacturer got revenge on Ford's home turf by crossing the finish line in a squadron in the top three spots, with in order Chris Amon/Lorenzo Bandini, Michael Parkes/Ludovico Scarfiotti and Pedro Rodríguez/Jean Guichet.

- Since 1966, 23 drivers have won both Le Mans and Daytona: (in alphabetical order) Fernando Alonso, Chris Amon, Mauro Baldi, Lorenzo Bandini, Derek Bell, Tim Bernhard, Christophe Bouchut, Martin Brundle, A.J. Foyt, Hurley Haywood, Hans Herrmann, Al Holbert, Davy Jones, Kamui Kobayashi, Jan Lammers, John Nielsen, Jackie Oliver, Henri Pescarolo, Mike Rockenfeller, Pedro Rodríguez, Andy Wallace, Marco Werner and John Winter.

- Only four among them won both races in the same year: Al Holbert, Derek Bell (1986 and 1987), Mike Rockenfeller (2010) and Fernando Alonso (2019).

- The winner in 1962 of the first international endurance race held at Daytona, Dan Gurney set the first distance record exceeding 5,000 km at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967 along with A,J. Foyt. In 1993, he won the Rolex 24 at Daytona as a Toyota chassis partner with an Eagle-Toyota Mk III driven by P.J. Jones, Mark Dismore and Rocky Moran.

- A winner in 1967 with teammate Dan Gurney for his sole participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, A.J. Foyt won Daytona twice at almost 50 years old, in 1983 and 1985. He is also the only driver in the history of auto racing to win Le Mans, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500, the major oval circuit races in the U.S.

- In 1986 and 1987, together British driver Derek Bell and American driver Al Holbert won both Le Mans and Daytona. They joined forces at Le Mans with Hans-Joachim Stuck and in Florida with Al Unser, Jr. (1986 and 1987) and Chip Robinson (1987). For the two Daytona wins, Holbert also served as team manager as the first director of Porsche racing activities in North America.

- In 2010, just four and a half months after winning Daytona with João Barbosa, Ryan Dalziel and Terry Borcheller, Mike Rockenfeller established the current distance record at Le Mans (average 225 kph at the wheel of an Audi). For the win, he teamed up with Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard (also a winner at Daytona in 2003).

- A great pioneer in Porsche's history in racing, Hans Herrmann was involved the marque's first victory at Daytona in 1968 then Le Mans in 1970.

- Winners at Daytona in 1991 and 1995 respectively, Henri Pescarolo and Christophe Bouchut are the only two Frenchmen to triumph at both races. Pescarolo is one of the winningest French drivers ever at Le Mans (a record shared with Yannick Dalmas) with four victories in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1984. Bouchut led a Peugeot hat trick in 1993 with Éric Hélary and Geoff Brabham.

- In addition to a win in LMGTE Pro at home in 2016 with a Ford GT, Le Mans native Sébastien Bourdais reached to top step on the overall podium at Daytona in 2014 and this year figures as a favorite at the upcoming 60th anniversary of endurance racing in Floride as a factory Cadillac driver.

- The winner in LMGTE Pro at Le Mans with Corvette in 2016, Jordan Taylor went on to clinch two overall victories at Daytona in 2017 and 2019 a member of his father Wayne Taylor's team.

- Porsche won its first 24-hour race at Daytona, in 1968, thanks to some of the marque's most talented drivers of the era: Vic Elford, Hans Herrmann, Jochen Neerpasch, Jo Siffert and Rolf Stommelen.

- Seven constructors have won both Le Mans and Daytona: BMW, Ford, Ferrari, Jaguar, Porsche and Toyota, with a total of 44 victories in France and 29 in Florida.

- Porsche currently holds the overall win record at both races (19 at Le Mans and 18 at Daytona) as well as the record for most consecutive victories (seven between 1981 and 1987 at Le Mans and from 1977 to 1983 at Daytona).

- Expert Porsche preparers, brothers Manfred and Erwin Kremer won both races with cars designed in their workshops: Le Mans in 1979 with a 935 K3 then Daytona in 1995 with the Kremer-Porsche K8 Spyder prototype driven by Christophe Bouchut and Marco Werner, winners at Le Mans in 1993 and in 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively.

- Jaguar's return to competition in the 1980s kicked off with two prestigious wins at Le Mans and Daytona in 1988 and 1990.

- In the early 1990s, Nissan became the first Japanese constructor to start from pole position at Le Mans (1990) and to Daytona (1992 then 1994). In the first half of the 2010s, Nissan also became a major contender in the LMP2 class with four wins at Le Mans (2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015).

- The most successful team manager ever at Le Mans with 15 victories, German native Reinhold Joest never won the race as a driver, but did win at Daytona in both roles with a Porsche 935 shared with fellow countrymen Rolf Stommelen and Volkert Merl in 1980. That same year, he achieved his best result at Le Mans with a second place finish with teammate Jacky Ickx.

- In 2000, French team ORECA (Chrysler's official representative at the time) scored the overall win at Daytona with a Dodge Viper GTS-R shared by Olivier Beretta, Dominique Dupuy and Karl Wendlinger. That same year, the trio triumphed in its class at Le Mans and made it into the overall top 10 (seventh).

- Corvette Racing pulled off the equivalent of a one-two in 2001. Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell won Daytona with Chris Kneifel and Franck Fréon, and gave the American team its first class win at Le Mans (eighth overall) along with Scott Pruett.

- After winning Daytona in 2000 driving a Dodge Viper, Monace native Olivier Beretta became a major player in Corvette's efforts at Le Mans with four class wins at the race in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2011, which were added to the two victories by a Viper in 2000 and 2001.

- A six-time winner at Daytona, the team of former driver Chip Ganassi won the LMGTE Pro class at Le Mans in 2016 as an official Ford partner for its official return to the French race with at the wheel Sébastien Bourdais, Joey Hand (Daytona overall winner in 2011) and Dirk Müller.

- A four-time Daytona winner as a team owner (2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021), Wayne Taylor won Le Mans in LMP1 in 1998 (eighth overall) with Eric van de Poele and Fermin Velez at the wheel of a Ferrari 333 SP for the last win at the race by a Ferrari prototype.

- A joint win record-holder with fellow countryman Scott Pruett at Daytona with five victories, American driver Hurley Haywood won Le Mans in 1977 for his rookie participation, in 1983, then in 1994 for his last appearance. After serving as Grand Marshal at the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans, he will repeat the honor this weekend at Daytona accompanied by Mario Andretti, Scott Pruett, Bobby Rahal, Jack Roush and Wayne Taylor.

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, FINISH, 16 JUNE 2019. Fernando Alonso is the fourth driver (and last to date) to achieve a Daytona/Le Mans one-two. He won in Florida with a Cadillac shared with Jordan Taylor, Kamui Kobayashi and Renger van der Zande, then four months later in France with Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima for the second win in a row for the #8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID.