2009 Daytona 500

2009 Daytona 500

Bill Frakes/SI

The 51st running of the Daytona 500 kicked into action Sunday with pole-sitter Martin Truex, Jr. leading the way. He was joined in the race by a deep field that included 2008 champion Ryan Newman and Joey Logano, who at 18-years old, was the youngest starter in the race's history.

Bill Frakes/SI

Knowing that they were racing against each other and to beat the weather, the drivers started jockeying for position much earlier than usual Sunday.

Fred Vuich/SI

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a bad day... he had just made his second mistake of the day in the pits under a previous caution when he pulled his Chevrolet too far out of his stall during a service stop...

AP

...then, Junior clips Brian Vickers, triggering a nine-car wreck.

Bill Frakes/SI

Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 88 laps, pulls out of the pit. Busch's day ended early when he was knocked out of the race by the nine-car pileup triggered by Earnhardt and Vickers.

Bill Frakes/SI

Rookie Joey Logano learns painful lesson in his first Daytona 500... He wrecked his No. 20 Toyota on lap 80 after colliding with Scott Speed and Clint Bowyer, sending Logano sliding into the inside wall. He finished last place in the 43-car field.

Bill Frakes/SI

Sam Hornish Jr. stops on pit road during the rain-shortened Daytona 500. The No. 77 car finished 32nd.

Bill Frakes/SI

The race was called after 152 of 200 laps. It was just the fourth rain-shortened 500 in the race's 51-year history, and the first since Michael Waltrip's 2003 victory

Fred Vuich/SI

The 2003 series champion, Matt Kenseth cruised across the finish line under a yellow flag to win the 51st Daytona 500. "I tell you what, after last year, winning a race means a lot to me," Kenseth said.

Fred Vuich/SI

The win was the first for Kenseth since the 2007 season finale, a streak of 36-winless races. He was also 11th in the final season standings, his lowest since he was 13th during a winless 2001 campaign.

Fred Vuich/SI

Matt Kenseth celebrates in victory lane after winning the shortened Daytona 500. "Man, I don't know," he said afterward. "Winning the Daytona 500 is definitely a dream moment. It's just an unbelievable feeling."

Fred Vuich/SI

Kenseth used a huge push from Kevin Harvick to slide past Elliott Sadler 54 laps from the finish. Harvick, who used a push from Kenseth to win the 500 in 2007, finished second.