Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 - Feb. 15th

Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500
Daytona International Speedway
380 Miles (152 laps)

We could call it the Daytona 380 - rather than the Daytona 500.

With 152 laps on the scoreboard, Matt Kenseth was declared the Daytona 500 Champion!

"You know, there's been a couple of occasions where we've had maybe not the best car, but close to the best car. At a few races I got shortened by rain that we didn't win. We certainly lost some on fuel mileage. I don't think we've ever won one on fuel mileage as far as the 17 goes.

I'll take it. I'm not going to think any less of the victory. A lot of races get won and lost like this. We raced almost 400 miles. We were in the right place at the right time. Had our car as fast as it needed to be." - Matt Kenseth

Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR

The 17th career win for driver of the #17 Ford Fusion, Matt Kenseth. His 1st Daytona 500 victory; the 1st for team owner Jack Roush and the 1st Sprint Cup race with his crew chief.

Kenseth started in the back in a back-up car; took the lead on lap 146 and went on to lead the final 7 laps of the race. He had drafting help from Kevin Harvick. Shades of Harvick's own Daytona 500 win two years ago when Kenseth gave Harvick the push he needed. Kevin Harvick finished 2nd.

"I think in the garage it will definitely be a popular win. I think Matt's obviously a pretty stand up person and a great racecar driver, accomplished a lot in this sport. I think a lot of us can relate to Matt for kind of going out of the spotlight. I think he's one of those guys that he can win seven or eight races in a year and never receive any credit. He's a really good racecar driver. He's a champion, Daytona 500 champion. I think a lot of times some of those things are overlooked." - Kevin Harvick

It was just the 4th time in 51 races a Daytona 500 was cut short by weather. The last time was in 2003 when Michael Waltrip won after 109 laps.

There were 8 cautions for 36 laps and 9 lead changes among 9 drivers.

The "Big One" happened on lap 125 that took out a lot of serious contenders including Kyle Busch. He looked dominant throughout the day and led a race high 88 laps until the 88 and the 83 collided. A total of 10 cars were involved in that one. There's been a lot of finger pointing since.

Onto California this weekend.