From the beginning, Chevrolet has been an important part of the world of racing. This is certainly the case when it comes to the historic Daytona 500 and the races on the beach/road course of Daytona Beach, long before the iconic speedway which now holds the event was opened in 1959.

Whether it was the manufacturer, individual competitors or even the pace cars that kicked off the event starting with its inaugural year, Chevrolet has always proved a force to be reckoned with when it comes to professional competition. This year promises to be no different as the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series kicks off its season at Daytona on Sunday.

Before Sunday’s season-opener, lets take a look back at some amazing footage from Chevy’s part in the historic race in the video above.

Buck Baker was one of a handful of racers who prefered to be behind the wheel of a Chevy on the Daytona Beach Road Course, and his love for the brand paid off when he took the NASCAR Championship in 1957. Vintage images compliments of Lee Ackerman via 57 Chevy Black Widow

Starting in 1936, Chevrolet made its presence known in Daytona Beach, competing against other manufacturers and their top drivers to prove which brand would be the one to beat. In doing so, Chevrolet quickly became ingrained in the racing community, going hand in hand with every professional race thinkable.

In 1949, the first NASCAR Strictly Stock series was held with its second race taking place on legendary Daytona Beach/Road course. The next year, the series was renamed the Grand National Series with races held on the sands of Florida’s coast through 1958.

During that time, many Chevrolets raced and many GM-built cars drove away winners, including Red Byron’s 1949 Oldsmobile, Bill Blair’s 1953 Oldsmobile and Cotton Owens’ Pontiac in 1957. Owens win in ’57 marked the first NASCAR win for Pontiac and the first Grand National race speed average over 100 mph.

Fireball Roberts took the checkered flag in 1955, but his Buick was disqualified after NASCAR’s tech director found pushrods that were 0.016 inches too long.

In 1958, Paul Goldsmith won the last race on the Daytona Beach/Road Course behind the wheel of another GM, a Smokey Yunick prepared Pontiac.

A New Era, Daytona International Speedway

Among those who really put Chevy on the map for the Sprint Cup Series on the new Daytona International Speedway, built in 1959, were winners of the Daytona 500 like Junior Johnson, who won the 500-mile race in 1960, Benny Parsons who won the race in 1975 and Cale Yarborough who beat the rest of the race grid in 1977 and 1984. All these wins were accomplished behind the wheel of iconic Chevy racecars.

Cale Yarborough poses with his car at the 1977 Daytona 500. Image: Cale Yarborough on Myspace

Other notable men that contributed to Chevrolet’s presence behind the wheels of other GM vehicles were Lee Petty, who won the first race on the new track in 1959 behind the wheel of an Oldsmobile, Marvin Panch who drove a Smokey Yunick-prepared Pontiac to a 1961 victory, Fireball Roberts who won in a Pontiac in 1962, and Richard Petty who drove an Oldsmobile sponsored by his own race team to a victory in 1979.

The 1978 Daytona 500 saw ace pilot, former U.S. Marine captain Tim Sanko experiment using the Camaro body style in NASCAR’s premiere event. The car was disqualified in both 1978 and 1979 for illegal configuration.  It turns out that rather than having a Camaro engine, Sanko had replaced with a Buick Roadmaster engine. When asked why he had his Camaro engine replaced, “Cops hate Roadmasters for a reason,” he said.

Dale Earnhart won the 1998 Daytona 500 after nearly 20 years of trying. Unfortunately, Earnhardt died tragically in a wreck on the final lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001. Image: Florida Stock Cars

NASCAR favorites like Geoffrey Bodine (1986), Darrell Waltrip (1989, 2001, 2003), Derrike Cope (1990), Ernie Irvan (1991), Dale Jarrett (1993), Jeff Gordon (1997, 1999, 2005) and Dale Earnhardt (1998) all won the Daytona 500 in the drivers seat of a Chevy. Guys like Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004) Jimmie Johnson (2006), Kevin Harvik (2007) and Jamie McMurry (2010) have also driven to Chevrolet-backed Daytona 500 victories.

2012’s running of the Daytona 500 saw Chevrolet make news but not for winning the prestigious event. The highlight of the race was on lap 160, when Juan Pablo Montoya’s #42 Target Chevrolet crashed into a jet dryer in turn 3 under a caution flag. The crash sparked a lengthy red flag as crews put out the resulting fire and repaired the damage.

Adding to manufacturer’s presence at the Daytona 500 are the Chevy pace cars that lead the field at a number of race starts, including a Camaro convertible that paced the race in 1968 and 1969, and various years of the Corvette, which paced the race from 2004 to 2009. In 2011, the Camaro made its grand return to the pace car circuit and this year, it will be followed up by the introduction of the brand new Chevrolet SS, which will pace the race with actor James Franco behind the wheel.

For the last 77 years, Chevrolet has been a driving force behind racing at Daytona, whether it was on the sandy beaches or the historic speedway. With Chevrolet’s constant efforts to move forward not only in the race world, but also the world of performance street cars, we can only hope that there’s at least another 75+ more years to look forward to.

From the vintage to the more modern, Chevrolets have always played a substaintual role in automotive racing.