Every Sunday before the third Monday in February, the best race drivers in the world compete at Daytona International Speedway for one of the most prized possessions in sport, the Harley J. Earl Daytona 500 Trophy. Going unbeaten, through the entire racing season, is irrelevant to most Nascar race drivers: The only race they care about winning is where you go home with the Harley J. Earl Trophy. Scroll down to see recent race winners being photographed with the Earl trophy. 

The Daytona 500 winner's price is one of the most beautiful trophies in the world and some day may tower over other great American sports trophies because this sterling silver prize is a modern work of art. Harley Earl came up with the classic Firebird rocket car theme to highlight the Daytona 500 trophy and then had it hand sculpted inside his Michigan design studio during the absolute zenith of the American automotive industry. Yes, the Harley J. Earl Daytona 500 Trophy is very similar to other modern works of art and/or motoramic masterpieces designed by Earl that have recently sold for millions of dollars at auction. Anyone these days can see why this provenance helps give the Daytona/Earl trophy a big artistic boost over other famous sporting event trophies. For example, the Vince Lombardi NFL Super Bowl trophy and the iconic Stanley Cup were not conceived and shaped by an iconic contemporary artist. The pictured page below increases awareness on why Harley's name is such a big part of today's Daytona 500 experience.

Bill France Sr. wasn't alone in knowing and acknowledging how Earl was an important American artist and that's why the following account was reported in NASCAR NEWS right after Harley Earl's death in April, 1969: 

"HE KNEW CARS, for he was an artist-engineer. He knew people, for he was a man. He knew racing, for he loved the sport..."

The following page increases awareness on why Earl's name is such a big part of today's Daytona 500 experience: 

Harley J. Earl's name didn't become the moniker for perhaps the most prized possession in American motor sports (Super Bowl Trophy of American Car Racing) without his making heroic achievements. Once you find out everything he did, then it's easy to realize why he's such an iconic figure with NASCAR fans. After all, aside from Bill France Sr., Earl is one of the cornerstone behind the long-term success of NASCAR! Taken from a 1954 article Mr. Earl wrote for the Saturday Evening Post titled, I Dream Automobiles:

"There is a touch of Oldfield and De Palma in most Americans, and frankly I wonder sometimes if there isn't a trace of the old Santa Monica race track in ever car I've ever designed."

Newest Winner of the Hottest Sport:  

Of course there are other trophies Kenseth, Newman, Haverick, Johnson and Gordon all want to win. Indianapolis. The Coca-Cola 600. The Southern 500. But nothing else in NASCAR carries the immediate respect of a Harley J. Earl in the trophy case.  News story below is on how each year's Daytona 500 trophy is hand made for the race winner by Omaha, Nebraska sculptor John Liba. 

Click image below to not only read the names of the individuals seen in this historic Daytona picture (taken by famous race car photographer C.V. Haschel) above, but also to find out how Harley Earl took many of GM's most famous car brands into modern stock car racing.

Noteworthy letter and signed picture, below, from Bill France Sr. (creator of NASCAR) 

Earl and France with trophy before first Daytona 500 race 

Go to NASCAR's Daytona heritage website, click below, to view more info on the legend behind this famous American race.