The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona was named after Florida’s Daytona International Speedway and became closely associated with motorsport timing.
Rolex became involved with Daytona’s racing world through timing and sponsorship, and the watch’s tachymeter scale allowed users to calculate average speed over a measured distance. That feature made the chronograph especially relevant to racing, where speed measurement was central.
The model is often shortened to “Daytona,” but Cosmograph Daytona is the formal name used for the collection. It is also frequently linked with actor and racing enthusiast Paul Newman, although “Paul Newman Daytona” is a collector nickname for particular dial variants, not the official model name.