* Matt Kenseth won the 51st running of the Daytona 500.
* This was the fourth rain-shortened Daytona 500. The previous rain-shortened 500s: 1965,133 laps; 1966, 198 laps; and 2003, 109 laps. Sunday’s race ran 152 laps. The last rain-shortened Cup race was at Loudon last June.
* Kenseth became the 33rd different winner of the Daytona 500, scoring his first victory in 10 starts in this prestigious race. It was his first restrictor-plate victory. His previous best finish at Daytona was a third-place finish in July 2008. That third-place was also his previous best restrictor-plate finish in 36 restrictor-plate races.
* Kenseth posted his 17th career Sprint Cup victory in his 329th career start. Roush Fenway’s previous best finish in the 500 was second three times: Jeff Burton (2000) and Kurt Busch (2003 and 2005).
* Kenseth was winless in 2008, with his last Sprint Cup win coming at Homestead in November 2007. He led once in Sunday’s 500 for the final seven laps.
* Kyle Busch led the most laps in the race, leading twice for 88 laps.
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* Ford posted its 11th victory in 51 Daytona 500s. Chevrolet has 20 500 victories, while Dodge has four.
* Scott Speed (35th) was the highest-finishing rookie contender among the two rookies who raced. Speed started 38th.
* Michael Waltrip (seventh) was the highest-finishing Toyota.
* There were five first-time starters in this year’s 500: AJ Allmendinger (third), Marcos Ambrose (17th), Aric Almirola (30th), Speed (35th) and Joey Logano (43rd).
* The top 10 consisted of four Dodges, three Chevrolets, two Fords and one Toyota.(ESPN Monday Rundown)(2-16-2009)
