What's the difference between racing Indy 500 and Daytona 500? Drivers explain

They are the signature spectacles in each racing series, the Indianapolis 500 and all its pageantry with more than a century of tradition and milk drinking in open-wheel racing, and the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s season-opener run under the Florida sun at the unofficial home of the "birthplace of speed."

Indy and Daytona.

Just say the city names to even casual sports fans, and they'll surely know each of them as two of the biggest dates — for sure, two of the biggest parties — in American racing.

They are united by four wheels, 500 miles on a 2.5-mile track, and raucous crowds of 100,000-plus fans that spill into Indy's Snake Pit and Daytona's Tent City.

And, well, not much else.

"They’re two completely different concepts of racing and I think people don’t really understand the differences," said Juan Pablo Montoya, a two-time Indy 500 champion with seven starts in the Daytona 500.

Montoya is one of the handful of elite drivers to attempt racing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. This year's Daytona 500 field is dotted with drivers who have tried both, including seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson and even a Daytona 500 rookie in four-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves.

While a longshot, the Brazilian star is attempting to match A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500.

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Castroneves will have some help in the draft — the tricky mix of downforce and drag — from three other teammates at Trackhouse Racing.

"I think the main difference is, they’re both unique to survive," Montoya said. "The factor with NASCAR that makes it really difficult is that you not