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Jack Hege has never missed NASCAR's premier race, the Daytona 500, but his half-century streak could end this year.

The 81-year-old Lexington resident has tickets for the Feb. 15 race at Daytona International Speedway, but says he needs someone to drive him to Florida. The friend who went with him last year isn't going this time.

"I can't get anybody to go with me," says Hege, who has attended the Daytona 500 every year since its inception in 1959.

If he doesn't go, his streak -- which few people in the world can claim to match -- would be over.

Hege was there when Lee Petty won the 1959 race and the seven times Richard Petty later won the event. Hege saw Dale Earnhardt lose so many close races there before winning in 1998 and then dying in a crash in 2001. Last year, Hege witnessed Ryan Newman's winning last-lap pass.

Each year, Hege buys five tickets, which cost $150 each, for seats just beyond turn 4. He saves two for himself and whoever drives him. The other three are bought by friends. Problem is that this year, he can't find anyone who can afford the tickets, let alone drive him to Daytona.

"You just can't find people with that kind of money," he says.

Hege, a lifelong bachelor who spent 46 years working in textile mills, realizes his streak could end this year but won't go alone just to maintain his perfect attendance.

"I do not want to drive down there by myself," he says. "I need someone else to go with me."

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com