NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 1
54TH ANNUAL DAYTONA "500"
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Daytona Beach, FL - February 27, 2012
2.5-Mile Oval
200 Laps - 500 Miles Purse: $19,142,601

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Fin
Str
Car
    Series
Bonus
Driver
  Leader
 
Pos
Pos
No
Driver
Team
Laps
Points
Points
Rating
Winnings
Status
Times
Laps

1
4
17
Matt Kenseth
Best Buy Ford
202
47
4
100.9
$1,588,887
Running
2
50

2
5
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr
Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet
202
42
0
99.5
1,103,150
Running
 
3
2
16
Greg Biffle
3M Ford
202
42
1
126.2
804,163
Running
8
44

4
31
11
Denny Hamlin
FedEx Express Toyota
202
42
2
124.7
702,091
Running
3
57

5
9
31
Jeff Burton
Caterpillar Chevrolet
202
40
1
117.7
564,550
Running
2
24

6
37
27
Paul Menard
Menards/Peak Chevrolet
202
39
1
90.4
427,900
Running
1
2

7
13
29
Kevin Harvick
Budweiser Chevrolet
202
37
0
83.0
415,261
Running
 
8
1
99
Carl Edwards
Fastenal Ford
202
36
0
81.1
403,466
Running
 
9
12
20
Joey Logano
The Home Depot Toyota
202
36
1
104.4
346,063
Running
1
2

10
22
55
Mark Martin
Aaron's Toyota
202
35
1
90.5
323,313
Running
1
2

11
30
15
Clint Bowyer
5-hour Energy Toyota
202
33
0
91.6
339,002
Running
 
12
26
56
Martin Truex Jr
NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
202
33
1
106.7
535,052
Running
2
7

13
7
9
Marcos Ambrose
Stanley Ford
202
31
0
93.8
342,358
Running
 
14
32
47
Bobby Labonte
Kroger Toyota
202
30
0
67.2
331,196
Running
 
15
24
36
Dave Blaney
Ollie's Bargain Outlet Chevrolet
202
30
1
70.2
296,513
Running
1
6

16
3
14
Tony Stewart
Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
202
29
1
82.6
377,775
Running
1
2

17
14
18
Kyle Busch
M&M's Brown Toyota
202
27
0
80.2
341,821
Running
 
18
43
32
Terry Labonte
C&J Energy Ford
202
27
1
63.6
316,150
Running
1
3

19
41
26
Tony Raines
Front Row Motorsports Ford
202
25
0
51.8
317,676
Running
 
20
21
6
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Ford EcoBoost Ford
202
0
0
64.9
353,063
Running
 
21
18
39
Ryan Newman
U.S. ARMY/Quicken Loans Chevrolet
202
23
0
64.5
361,059
Running
 
22
39
83
Landon Cassill
Burger King Toyota
202
22
0
59.2
319,945
Running
 
23
33
38
David Gilliland
MHP/Power Pak Pudding Ford
201
21
0
59.7
309,133
Running
 
24
6
78
Regan Smith
Furniture Row/CSX Play It Safe Chevrolet
200
21
1
79.0
357,034
Running
1
2

25
36
13
Casey Mears
GEICO Ford
199
19
0
64.0
305,021
Running
 
26
38
93
David Reutimann
Burger King Toyota
196
18
0
67.1
309,335
Accident
 
27
10
33
Elliott Sadler
General Mills/Kroger Chevrolet
196
0
0
53.1
305,788
Running
 
28
34
87
Joe Nemechek
AM FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota
194
0
0
37.5
287,363
Running
 
29
20
5
Kasey Kahne
Farmers Insurance Chevrolet
189
15
0
68.4
297,988
Accident
 
30
11
98
Michael McDowell
KLOVE/Curb Records Ford
189
14
0
52.4
292,175
Running
 
31
19
1
Jamie McMurray
Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
188
13
0
63.6
318,608
Accident
 
32
23
2
Brad Keselowski
Miller Lite Dodge
187
12
0
73.3
322,295
Accident
 
33
27
43
Aric Almirola
Smithfield Helping Hungry Homes Ford
187
11
0
72.8
320,986
Accident
 
34
15
22
AJ Allmendinger
Shell Pennzoil Dodge
177
10
0
45.1
328,325
Running
 
35
40
21
Trevor Bayne
Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford
164
0
0
37.6
283,200
Running
 
36
35
42
Juan Pablo Montoya
Target Chevrolet
159
8
0
53.9
312,391
Accident
 
37
42
30
David Stremme
Inception Motorsports Toyota
156
7
0
48.2
282,075
Engine
 
38
29
10
Danica Patrick
GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
138
0
0
34.9
281,715
Running
 
39
28
51
Kurt Busch
Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet
113
5
0
26.7
277,913
Running
 
40
16
24
Jeff Gordon
Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
81
5
1
67.9
317,674
Engine
1
1

41
17
7
Robby Gordon
MAPEI/Menards/SPEED Energy Dodge
25
3
0
30.5
268,150
Engine
 
42
8
48
Jimmie Johnson
Lowe's Chevrolet
1
2
0
28.3
327,149
Accident
 
43
25
34
David Ragan
Scorpion Truck Bedliners Ford
1
1
0
25.9
267,637
Accident
 

# Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender.
Bonus Points: includes winner, lap leader & most laps led points
(i) = Ineligible for driver points in this series

Failed to qualify: (6) #40 Michael Waltrip; #23 Robert Richardson; #97 Bill Elliott; #37 Mike Wallace; #09 Kenny Wallace; #49 J.J. Yeley
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 140,000 (originally estimated at 180,000), Matt Kenseth won the Daytona 500, his 22nd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and second Daytona 500 win. To start the race, prior to the green flag the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #27, 42, 10, 38 (backup car), #51 (engine change). The event was originally scheduled for Feb. 26.
TIME OF RACE: 3 hours, 36 minutes, 2 seconds      AVERAGE SPEED: 140.256 mph      MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.21 second(s)
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD:  Carl Edwards (194.738 mph. 46.216 secs.)
3M LAP LEADER:  Denny Hamlin (57 Laps)
AMERICAN ETHANOL GREEN FLAG RESTART AWARD:  Bobby Labonte
DIRECTV CREW CHIEF OF THE RACE:  Matt Kenseth (crew chief Jimmy Fennig)
FREESCALE "WIDE OPEN":  Jeff Burton
MAHLE CLEVITE ENGINE BUILDER OF THE RACE:  Toyota Racing Development (TRD) (#11)
MOBIL 1 OIL DRIVER OF THE RACE:  Denny Hamlin
MOOG STEERING AND SUSPENSION PROBLEM SOLVER OF THE RACE:  Paul Menard (crew chief Richard Labbe, 0.169 seconds)

NASCAR SPRINT CUP LEADER BONUS:  No winner: rolls over to $20,000 at next event++
USG IMPROVING THE FINISH:  Denny Hamlin (27 places)
++Rollover money awarded at year's end, amount not included in race winnings.
Caution Flags: 10 cautions for 42 laps. [Beneficiary in Brackets] 3-7 (Car #10, 21, 33, 34, 48, 51 Accident Frontstretch [None]); 14-16 (Car #39 Spin Turn 2 [None]); 65-67 (Debris [83]); 82-85 (Oil On Track [26]); 89-91 (Car #9, 32 Accident Tri-Oval [39]); 130-132 (Car #15 Stopped On Track [39]); 158-166 (Car #30 Spin Turn 3 [Red Flag: Lap 161, 2:05:29] [47]); 179-182 (Car #6, 9, 13, 43 Accident Frontstretch [15]); 189-193 (Car #1, 2, 5, 14, 43, 78, 99 Accident Frontstretch [15]); 198-200 (Car #6, 14, 18, 20, 36, 38, 39, 93 Accident Frontstretch [9]).
Lap Leaders:  25 lead changes among 13 drivers. Edwards-pole, Biffle 1-9, Smith 10-11, Biffle 12-14, Menard 15-16, Hamlin 17-40, Burton 41-57, J. Gordon 58, Stewart 59-60, Burton 61-67, Biffle 68-76, Truex Jr 77-81, Biffle 82, T. Labonte 83-85, Biffle 86-99, Truex Jr 100-101, Hamlin 102-129, Biffle 130, Martin 131-132, Biffle 133-138, Hamlin 139-143, Logano 144-145, Kenseth 146-157, Biffle 158, Blaney 159-164, Kenseth 165-202.