DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Matt Kenseth drove from the back of the field to take the Daytona 500 lead minutes before the sky opened up, handing the former series champion his first victory in NASCAR's version of the Super Bowl.
Coming off one of the worst seasons of his career, Kenseth's bad luck followed him into Daytona International Speedway. He wrecked his primary car, had to go to a backup and started Sunday's race in last place.
But as rain closed in on the season-opening event, the field turned it up a notch — anticipating the race would not go the distance. Kenseth used a huge push from Kevin Harvick to pass Elliott Sadler with 54 laps to go. Caution came out moments later for an accident started by Paul Menard, and the rain that had been threatening all day finally arrived.
NASCAR stopped the race two laps later, and the cars were called to pit road. Some drivers climbed from their cars to await NASCAR's decision on whether to restart the race, but Kenseth sat patiently inside his parked Ford on pit road.
When NASCAR declared it over, the 2003 Cup champion tearfully climbed from his car to celebrate his victory, which snapped a 36-race winless streak. It was also the first Daytona 500 win for team owner Jack Roush.
"It's going to be really wet if I cry like a baby," the usually cool Kenseth said as he choked back tears. "I tell you what, after last year, winning a race means a lot to me."
Kevin Harvick, who used a push from Kenseth to win the 500 in 2007, finished second.
AJ Allmendinger, who had to race his way into the field in one of Thursday's qualifiers, finished third.
Clint Bowyer was fourth and Sadler was fifth, devastated he lost the lead moments before the rain stopped the race.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090216/...PCEz2KrmcR07QF

They should have dried the track and finished the race. Not to happy about the way this race played out.

Not what I expected at all. I wish they had been able to finish the race too. I recently read in the Washington Post that the time a caution flag is up, is now sponsored. I think 9 tracks now have a sponsored caution period. Anything to get money in these hard times. Heck, ticket prices were cut by $40 for Daytona! It will be an interesting time to see what they economy does to racing.

At least in F1 they race in the rain.

you need to see my new post.

Since I have followed Kenseth's career as long as he has been with Rousch Racing, I am fine with the win.

I know that all drivers have issues with getting caught in big races while they are performing well, but Matt has been knocked out of so many races by other drivers that he deserved this one. So, I understand anyone saying it is not a real win or a cheap win, but as a 17 fan, I'll take it!