A win on short notice

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Matt Kenseth took the lead in the nick of time yesterday to win a rain-shortened Daytona 500.

Kenseth passed Emporia native Elliott Sadler on Lap 146 just before a yellow flag flew and rain that had been threatening all day finally arrived.

After 152 laps, cars were ordered off the track about 6:30 p.m. and officials waited less than 20 minutes to make the call, giving car owner Jack Roush his first victory in NASCAR's most famous race.

"It's going to be really wet if I cry like a baby," the usually cool Kenseth said as he choked back tears. "I tell you what, after last year, winning a race means a lot to me."

Kevin Harvick, who used a push from Kenseth to win the 500 in 2007, finished second.

AJ Allmendinger, who had to race his way into the field in one of Thursday's qualifiers, finished third. Clint Bowyer was fourth and Sadler was fifth.

Sadler had picked up the lead when he was on pit road as a caution came out. He kept it through an earlier caution during which he checked the weather with his team. When told the radar showed the rain all around, Sadler said, "that's my luck -- it's raining on the radar and not on the racetrack."

Right after Kenseth took the lead, with Harvick, Allmendinger and Bowyer moving up past Sadler in the draft, Aric Almirola was punted in traffic and spun to bring out the yellow just before the rain began.

It was Kenseth's first Sprint Cup victory since the final race of the 2007 season at Homestead, Fla.

"It's just an unbelievable feeling," Kenseth said after the race was called. "I've had some fast cars, I have just never made the right moves."

The sudden, abrupt ending to the afternoon's proceedings capped an unusual day that included a controversial incident involving Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Lap 124.

Two different pit road errors had put Earnhardt a lap down. He made up the first one but for the restart in question was the first car a lap down on the inside.

Brian Vickers, who had pitted just before a yellow to get caught on the end of the lead lap, tried to make a move to the inside. Vickers crowded Earnhardt and forced him below the yellow line. As Earnhardt moved back up, he clipped Vickers' Toyota and sent it back across the track and into traffic.

Several of the cars that had been among the best all day wound up in a pile and then went sliding through the grass at the end of the frontstretch.

Kyle Busch's car, which had been dominant to that point, was badly damaged. So were those of Denny Hamlin (Manchester High), Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards, all of which had all been running well, too.

"Some guys having a bad day made their bad day our bad day," Busch said.

Vickers said he was racing Earnhardt to be the first car a lap down.

"Junior just turned us," Vickers said. "He just hooked us. To wreck somebody in front of the entire field like that is pretty dangerous."

Earnhardt said he was innocent of any wrongdoing.

"Yeah, it was accidental. I didn't want to wreck the field," Earnhardt said.

David Poole writes for