The first Daytona 500 race took place the same year that Hawaii became a state
Currently, the US has fifty states but did not always have as many. The last states to be incorporated were Hawaii and Alaska, which joined the country in 1959. That same year, another important event took place in the US.
The Daytona 500 inaugural car race also happened in 1959, and the first winner ever was Lee Petty. Nowadays, this race is one of the biggest sports events in the US and is considered to be “the Super Bowl” of car racing.