"Daytona is Daytona. It's the first race; it's the biggest race," explains Eddie Wood, part owner of the Wood Brothers Racing team that's won 11 races at Daytona over the years. "It's the Super Bowl of racing."

Winning there brings the biggest rewards in racing, which means that winning there demands the biggest risks in all of racing. Always has. Always will.

Yet never agina will a driver execute a draft move in the final lap of Daytona 500 without bring to mind bother Earnhardt's demise and his fierce aggressivenss. Now they are a permanent part of a Daytona character that is rich and deep and troubling and majestic. Over the years, fans and competitors at the 2.5-mile track have seen it all, the great moments, the heart-spinning finishes, all mixed with the range of setbacks and losses that life on the NASCAR circuit brings- the untimely deaths of loved ones and close friends, the smashed cars and fractured plans, the off-track battles for drivers and sponsors.