6:49 p.m. It’s over: Matt Kenseth is the winner of the 51st Daytona 500.
NASCAR officials waited less than 20 minutes to call the race after a light but steady rain began falling at Daytona International Speedway.
“After last year, winning a race means a lot to me,” Kenseth said. The Roush Fenway driver did not win a Cup race in 2008.
Kevin Harvick finished second and A.J. Allmendinger third.
It’s an overcast afternoon and the forecast is for rain this evening. So far, the rain has held off, although there were some puddles in the garage area from showers in the early morning.
NASCAR is hoping to get this 200-lap race in before the bad weather arrives. The weather could impact teams’ pit strategies. The 500 will go into the books as an official race if at least 101 laps are run.
Pre-race activities: Grammy Award winner Keith Urban just wrapped his his three-song set in front of victory lane with thousands of fans surrounding him. Urban also performed two songs, including the 1975 America hit “Sister Golden Hair,” during his brief Q & A session in the media center.
Driver introductions are taking place. The 43 Cup drivers for today’s race are taking their introductory lap around the 2.5-mile track in a variety of Corvette convertibles of all years — red, white, blue, yellow, white, black, maroon — quite a lineup.
It’s 66 degrees, and so far the rain is holding off. We should be on time for a 3:30 green flag.
Stewart’s weekend: It appeared to be business as usual in the Haas-Stewart garage. Tony Stewart and teammate Ryan Newman (the defending Daytona 500 champ) were involved in an accident during Saturday’s Happy Hour practice session, forcing both drivers to switch to backup cars and start from the rear of the field in today’s race. Stewart was highly critical of tire supplier Goodyear following the crash which began when Newman experienced tire failure for the second time this week.
Stewart bounced back nicely, winning Saturday’s Camping World 300 Nationwide Series race by holding off Kyle Busch. Busch rode Stewart’s rear bumper down the backstretch and through Turn 3 but could not get Stewart loose enough to slip by. Carl Edwards eventually finished second with Clint Bowyer third and Busch fourth. Stewart was driving his first race for Hendrick Motorsports. Today is Stewart’s first Sprint Cup points race as a team owner.
New rides, fresh paint: Chevrolet unveiled its 2010 Camaro SS as the Daytona 500 pace car. But the nifty black and gold Camaro isn’t the only fresh paint in the garage area.
Some of the new paint schemes on Cup Series cars include:
43 — Not a fleck of Petty Blue on Reed Sorenson’s red RPM ride, sponsored by McDonald’s
24 — Jeff Gordon’s car is also missing the blue. His Dupont paint scheme still has flames but on a black base.
31 — Jeff Burton’s new sponsor is Caterpillar and the primarily black car features a CAT crawler on the side.
44 — A.J. Allmendinger has a retro-Valvoline paint job on his Richard Petty Motorsport ride.
47 — Little Debbie’s formely a fixture on Wood Brothers cars, is in yellow and red on Marcos Amrbose’s car.
96 — Bobby Labonte’s Ask.com Ford, is red, white and blue — with an emphasis on the white
98 — Paul Menard’s neon green Ford, also out of the Yates Racing garage, is easily the brightest car on the track.
3:30 p.m. Start your engines: The command to start engines has been given and the cars are set to roll off pit road with pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr. and 50-year-old Mark Martin leading the way.
Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch are in Row 2.
3:36 p.m. Field rolling: The 43-car field is in motion with seven cars dropping to the rear of the pack. Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, John Andretti, Sam Hornish Jr. and Scott Speed are all in backup cars.
Speed and Joey Logano are the two rookies in the field. Logano, starting on the inside of the fifth row for Joe Gibbs Racing, is the youngest driver ever in the 500. He is 18.
3:42 pm. They’re off: Tom Cruise at the wheel of the pace car that dips down onto pit road. It looks like a full house in the stands.
Martin Truex takes the early lead with Jeff Gordon in hot pursuit. Truex leads the first lap but Mark Martin comes storming on the outside and assumes the lead early on Lap 2.
NASCAR has called for a competition caution flag at the end of Lap 25. Moisture on the track is the concern and reason for the caution.
3:44 p.m.: New leader: Three laps, three leaders. Kyle Busch takes the lead on Lap 3. He leads Mark Martin with Juan Pablo Montoya on the move and into third. It stays that way with those three at the head of the pack through Lap 4.
3:52 p.m. First caution: Aric Almirola, driving the No. 8 for Earnhardt/Ganassi Chevrolet, goes spinning in Turn 3 of Lap 8. That brings out the first caution of the race.
About half the field pits, about half stays on the track. Race leader Kyle Busch is among those who stays out. So does Mark Martin. Bobby Labonte restarts in third place.
4:00 p.m. 20 laps in: Seeing a lot of single-file racing as Kyle Busch continues to lead Mark Martin. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has moved into third with Carl Edwards on his tail.
Bobby Labonte and Jamie McMurray have been battling side-by-side for fifth with Jeff Gordon also in the mix.
We’re coming up on the scheduled competition yellow flag after Lap 25.
4:05 p.m. Mandatory stop: Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon and Jamie McMurray have asserted themselves as the fastest cars through the first 25 laps. Now, all cars will pit under a mandatory caution flag.
If you’re wondering about last year’s champ, Ryan Newman, he hasn’t been able to keep up. Newman, forced to a second backup car due to mishaps, is running 42nd. Only Aric Almirola, whose spin brought out the first caution flag, is running behind Newman.
Hendrick Motorsports drivers Earnhardt and Gordon had fast pit stops and are running second and third, behind Busch, as the cars leave the pits.
4:20 p.m. Fending them off: Jeff Burton, who started 26th, and Matt Kenseth, who was forced to the rear of the pack, have come through the field and run second. Neither has been able to get past Kyle Busch, however.
Through 40 laps of 200, Busch was holding off Earnhardt (who challenged him high on Lap 38), Denny Hamlin, Kenseth and David Ragan. Burton, Edwards and Gordon were right behind.
Jeremy Mayfield (hood up) and Robby Gordon have made unscheduled pit stops.
4:25 p.m. Smokin’: Tony Stewart’s Toyota has joined the group stalking Kyle Busch. Coming from the back of the field at the start, Stewart is up to third place behind Earnhardt Jr.
So far, Jimmie Johnson, the three-time defending Cup champ, has not been a factor. With 48 laps in the books, Johnson is runing 13th, just ahead of two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip.
4:30 p.m., Sea of Green: Dale Earnhardt Jr., with drafting help from Stewart, sweeps into the lead on the 53rd lap, bringing the green-and-white clad Earnhardt fans to their feet.
Earnhardt’s hold on the lead lasts less than one lap. Stewart takes the lead and a caution comes out for Travis Kvapil who has major right-side damage on the front of his Ford. Sam Hornish Jr. is also into the pits.
4:39, Junior’s mistake: Earnhardt makes a possibly costly error, missing his pit stall on his first pass through the pits under caution. He comes back down pit lane a second time, but Earnhardt falls from third place all the way to 35th.
It’s Stewart, Busch, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards leading the way as the field goes green. A.J. Allmendinger has his Petty Motorsports Dodge up to fifth.
4:45 p.m. Eye on the weather: There’s rain being reported in the Orlando area. NASCAR desparately would like to see Lap 101 completed, thus making this race official.
To be sure, teams know this as well. They’ll be no laying back.
Through 63 laps, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards are battling at the top. Single-file racing has given way to side-by-side battling. Gordon is going hard after Stewart.
5:04 p.m. A hard hit: Rookie driver Joey Logano just took a hard lick.
Logano, who had been running back in the pack, appeared to get a piece of fellow rookie Scott Speed and veered toward the infield into the safer barrier near the entry to pit road. Logano appears to be in considerably better shape than his Home Depot Toyota.
Jeff Gordon didn’t win a Cup race in 2008, but he was leading this one until Kyle Busch just beat him out of the pits. Denny Hamlin remains in third.
The rest of the top 10 as they exit pit road for Lap 83: Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, A.J. Allmendinger.
5:15 p.m.: Race within a race: Teams know nasty weather is in the area and have their eyes on track position as the midway point of the race nears. If more than half of the race is completed, the race will be official.
Heading into Lap 93 it’s Kyle Busch (who has led the most laps) ahead of his Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, A.J. Allmendinger and Matt Kenseth.
5:19: Race is official: More than half of the Daytona 500 is complete, so the race will be official in the event of rain.
Kyle Busch has established his Toyota as the car to beat. He’s run strong all day. Right now, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards are on his tail.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has climbed back into contention. Junior is up to 11th place on Lap 102 after falling back toward the tail of the pack after a botched pit stop.
5:25 p.m. Where’s Jimmie? Jimmie Johnson was back in 20th on Lap 107. Busch, Hamlin, Edwards, McMurray and Gordon are your leaders.
It’s getting darker at Daytona, but it’s hard to tell if it’s the time of day or approaching rain clouds creating the darkness.
5:32 p.m. Unscheduled stop: Jeff Gordon felt a right-front tire failing and made a green-flag stop. Gordon, who had been contending for the lead, had less than 30 laps on his tires. Teammate Jimmie Johnson follows Gordon into the pits.
In the meantme, their Hendrick teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., continues on the move. He’s up to fifth place.
As the field approaches Lap 120, Kyle Busch continues to lead Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray.
Now there’s a caution for debris and Gordon gets the Lucky Dog, putting him back on the lead lap. It’s the fifth caution of the race. Turns out David Stremme blew a tire.
5:37 p.m., Taking on fuel: This could be the last pit stop for everyone if the rain intervenes. Reports are the raindrops could be less than 15 minutes away. Track posiiton is important, but it’s evident that fresh tires are a necessity for virtually everyone.
Another tough break in the pits for Earnhardt. He’s being held a lap for pitting outside of the box. His right front tire is on the line. So, Earnhardt, who was in third place entering the pits, will be a lap behind the leaders.
David Stremme is also being held a lap for speeding on pit road.
5:50 p.m. Big pileup: Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr., both a lap down, but battling for position at the head of the field, got together and triggered a nine-car accident that involved contenders including Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards.
Vickers came down the track to block Earnhardt, who dipped below the yellow line into the grass. Earnhardt came back up and Vickers lost it in front of the pack.
After a caution flag pit stop, Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson had been the leaders on the restart. They had pitted earlier, under green.
It’s Sadler, Sorenson, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and A.J. Allmendinger the top five with 73 laps still scheduled to be run.
Vickers and Earnhardt were actually battling to get back onto the lead lap or at least be in position to be the Lucky Dog.
Other cars involved in the accident: Kurt Busch, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Scott Speed.
6:10 p.m. Another caution: Jeff Burton got slid up into the wall. Regan Smith was involved. But it was Paul Menard who took the brunt of the damage.
Moments earlier, Burton had been running fourth behind Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson and Matt Kenseth. It looked like Kenseth had gotten past Sadler for the lead, but the yellow flag came out in time to save Sadler.
There have been a few rain drops but not enough to stop the race. Some cars are electing to stay out and not pit, perhaps fearing that rain could be imminent.
It wll be Sadler, Kenseth, Sorenson, A.J. Allmendinger and Tony Stewart on the restart. Three of the first four cars are out of the Richard Petty Motorsports Garage.
6:20 p.m., Kenseth to the lead: Matt Kenseth took the lead from Elliott Sadler just before the race’s eighth caution flag came out with 55 laps left to race.
Kenseth, running second, survived a bump with Reed Sorenson, then went on to pass Sadler before contact between Aric Almirola and Kurt Busch brought out the yellow flag.
Rain drops are falling, but not enough to halt the race as darkness has enveloped Daytona.
Presuming the race goes green, it will be the Roush Fenway Ford of Kenseth ahead of Kevin Harvick (Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet), A.J. Allmendinger (Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge), Clint Bowyer (RCR Chevrolet) and Sadler (RPM Dodge).
6:34 p.m., Rain is here: The race has been red-flagged with all cars parked on pit road.
There’s no way of telling how long NASCAR will wait in an attempt to resume the race.
If the race does not restart, Matt Kenseth, coming off a winless 2008 season, will be the Daytona 500 winner. Kevin Harvick is currently second and A.J. Allmendinger third.
At the moment, track dryers are not yet on the track. Crew members are covering all the race cars.
Kenseth wins!