in four years, again holding off Dale Earnhardt, who finished second for the third time in four years. 1998 : Dale Earnhardt finally won the Daytona 500 after "20 years of trying, 20 years of frustration." Though Earnhardt had usually been a strong competitor in the Daytona 500, mechanical problems, crashes, or other misfortunes had prevented him from winning. 1999: Jeff Gordon accomplished the feat of winning the pole and the race marking the first time since 1987 when Bill Elliott did this. 2000: Dale Jarrett avenged his previous year's rollover accident by winning the 1999 season championship & 2000 500 which was the final 500 broadcast for CBS. 2001: Also known as "Black Sunday", or the "darkest day in NASCAR", as Dale Earnhardt died in a crash on the final lap. Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were running first and second on the final lap, while Earnhardt Sr. was third. In turn 4, Earnhardt lost control after making contact from Sterling Marlin, and crashed into the outside wall, taking Ken Schrader with him. Earnhardt suffered a fatal basilar skull fracture. The death overshadowed Waltrip's first win, which came in his 463rd Cup Series race. 2003: Michael Waltrip became a two-time winner in the shortest ever Daytona 500 after the race was shortened to 109 laps due to rain. 2005 : The start time was changed, allowing the race to finish under the lights at dusk. In the first use of the green-white-checkered finish rule in the Daytona 500, Gordon held off Kurt Busch, and Earnhardt Jr. to win his third Daytona 500. The race went 203 laps/507.5 miles. 2007: Running fifth with half a lap to go, Kevin Harvick picked up a push and surged to the front to nip Mark Martin by 0.02 seconds at the line. Most of the rest of the field crashed across the line as The Big One erupted behind them. 2008: The celebrated 50th running of the Daytona 500 was the first using NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow. It also marked the first race under the "Sprint Cup Series" banner, following the merger of Sprint with Nextel in 2006. 2010: The longest Daytona 500 distance until the 2020 event, 208 laps (), due to requiring two green-white-checker efforts to finish the race. Jamie McMurray came home with the 2010 Daytona 500 victory. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second. 2011: Since this race marked the