Matt Kenseth led 86 laps of Sunday’s Daytona 500. That’s more than any other driver in the field. But the defending Daytona 500 Champion saw his day end on lap 149 after transmission issues.
Two laps later, teammate Kyle Busch left after blowing his engine.
Jimmy Johnson returned to the winner’s circle at Daytona for the second time. Johnson took the lead with 6-laps to go and held off Dale Earnhardt jr., Mark Martin and Brad Keselowski for his first win at Daytona since 2006. It’s Johnson’s 61st victory in his 400th start. Danica Patrick started on the pole and finished 8th.
The two other Wisconsin drivers, Travis Kvapil (25th) and Paul Menard (21st) both fell victim to a last lap crash.