DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daytona Int’l Speedway officials confirmed Thursday morning that President Donald Trump will attend Sunday’s 62nd running of the Daytona 500.
It will mark the first time since 2004 that a sitting United States President has attended The Great American Race. It will be the third time in history a president has attended the event.
President George W. Busch was the last sitting President to attend the Daytona 500, doing so in 2004 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first of two Daytona 500 crowns.
His father, George H.W. Bush, was at the 1992 Daytona 500 when Davey Allison went to victory lane.
Perhaps the most high-profile presidential visit to Daytona came not at the season opener, but the track’s summer event, when President Ronald Reagan attended the 1984 Firecracker 400.
President Reagan gave the command to start engines from Air Force One before arriving at the race track and later calling a few moments of the race from the MRN broadcast booth.
“The Daytona 500 is one of the greatest events in sports and the prestigious season-opening event to the NASCAR Cup Series,” said track president Chip Wile. “Daytona Int’l Speedway has been privileged to have hosted several sitting Presidents of the United States over our history.
“We’re honored that the President of the United States has chosen to experience the pageantry and excitement of The Great American Race by attending Sunday’s 62nd annual Daytona 500.”
Kurt Busch was asked during Daytona 500 Media Day on Wednesday about the possibility of the President visiting Sunday’s race and expressed his enthusiasm for that happening.
“This is the Daytona 500. It’s already over the top, off the charts, fun, exciting, and you’re just rolling with whatever comes your way,” Busch said. “They tell me it starts at a certain time, but you go when they tell you to put your helmet on.
“I can’t wait for President Trump to show up and for all of the race fans to acknowledge him and just to have that fun atmosphere of a president at the Daytona 500.”