Matt Kenseth Wins The Daytona 500

Good for him. I like Matt Kenseth, and he was truly happy after the win.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Matt Kenseth is leading the Daytona 500 during a rain delay that might hand the former NASCAR champion his first victory in NASCAR’s biggest race of the year.

Matt Kenseth passed Elliott Sadler with 54 laps to go in Sunday’s race. 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 wait out the delay, but Matt Kenseth is still sitting inside the No. 17 Ford.

Kevin Harvick is in second. AJ Allmendinger, who raced his way into the field in one of Thursday’s qualifying events, is in third.

The rain-shortened result is weak, especially for the season’s biggest race, but NASCAR officials said that the rain was not scheduled to move out of the area until about midnight. They probably made the right call.

Matt Kenseth Is The Rain-Shortened 2009 Daytona 500 Champion

The race was red flagged for rain with 48 laps to go and shortly after, NASCAR called the race, giving Matt Kenseth his first Daytona 500 Victory.

Matt Kenseth had remained in his car during the red flag, only coming out of it when the race was called. When interviewed, he commented first that it was going to be a pretty embarrassing interview, cuz he was crying like a baby. And he did. And I'm betting many cried with him.

It was an eventful race to say the very least. Kyle Busch dominated and led 88 laps. It only took Smoke just over 40 laps to make his way from the very back to the very front. Joe Logano got taken out after a bump with another rookie, Scott Speed.

The biggest wreck, however, came at lap 125 when Jr got into Brian Vickers on the restart. Brian was trying to block Jr, and Jr got into him. The unfortunate part was the wreck took out so many great cars, including the dominant car of the race so far, Kyle Busch.

But the number 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion came thru that wreck unscathed. On the restart, he and Elliott Sadler were up front, where no one expected them to be. Everyone knew the rains were coming and when the 8 and 9 got together and the caution came out, everyone held tight.

Elliott Sadler got passed when Matt Kenseth got a nudge from Happy that sent Matt Kenseth to the front. The yellow flew, then the red, then the checkers.

The Daytona 500 is always controversial. Many say it is a boring race, but this race was anything but boring, and a very deserving driver won. Now he’s off to New York and David Letterman, among other things.

Congratulations Matt Kenseth, to you and your team. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

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