| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 1996 Daytona 500 logo | |||
| Date | February 18, 1996 | ||
| Location |
Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02336 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 63 °F (17 °C); wind speeds approaching 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 154.308 miles per hour (248.335 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Richard Childress Racing | ||
| Qualifying race winners | |||
| Duel 1 Winner | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Duel 2 Winner | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 44 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 88 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, and Ned Jarrett | ||
| Nielsen Ratings |
9.2/24 (13.9 million viewers) | ||
The 1996 Daytona 500, the 38th running of the event, was run on February 18, 1996, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, as the first race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup season. Dale Jarrett won this race for the second time after winning it in 1993 and for the first (and only) time in all of Daytona 500 history, Dale Earnhardt won the pole position, allowing many to believe that he would finally win the race. Ernie Irvan returned to race full-time alongside Earnhardt (both drivers won their respective Gatorade Twin 125-mile qualifying races).
- ^ "Weather of the 1996 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2014-03-17.