DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Matt Kenseth has won his second Daytona 500, holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr. to end one of the more bizarre races in NASCAR history.
Kenseth had Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle lined up behind him on the final restart, and Biffle played the role of dutiful teammate for the two laps of overtime. Earnhardt pulled out behind Biffle as they closed in on the finish line but couldn’t catch Kenseth.
It was an anticlimactic ending after rain postponed the race for the first time in its 54-year history from Sunday to Monday. Then came a frightening fire when Juan Pablo Montoya hit a safety truck, causing a two-hour delay.