In 1959 another excellent mechanic from Playland and IMCA competition, Roy Burdick, an Omaha mechanic, was offered by Holman-Moody, a well-known center of Ford racing, to buy a Thunderbird for 5500 dollars to enter in the first Daytona 500. Burdick agreed and asked Beauchamp to drive the car. Beauchamp found himself leading the race when Fireball Roberts went out on lap 43. For the remainder of the race, Beauchamp raced near the front, usually in first,second, or third. On lap 149, Lee Petty who had been too far back in the pack to be noticed, suddenly appeared driving side by side with Beauchamp. For the last fifty laps the two continued racing close together. Beauchamp crossed the finish line at about the same time as Lee Petty in the Daytona 500 in 1959. Beauchamp was declared the unofficial winner of the race, so he drove the Roy Burdick owned car to victory lane. Petty protested the win. "I had him by two feet," Beauchamp said. "I glanced over to Lee Petty's car as I crossed the finish line and I could see his headlight slightly back of my car. It was so close I didn't know how they would call it, but I thought I won." NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. studied photographs and newsreels for three days before declaring Petty the official winner. Beauchamp competed in seven events that season; recording his first NASCAR victory at Atlanta's Lakewood speedway where he lapped the entire field of NASCAR drivers. Although he had several high finishes in 1959, his final points of the season are not listed in the record books.