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Daytona 500 Results: Matt Kenseth Is 2012 Winner, Carl Edwards Finished In 8th Place

After being postponed on Sunday due to rain, NASCAR's Great American Race at the Daytona International Speedway finally kicked off in prime time on Monday night. In an event filled with spills, thrills and yellow flags, Matt Kenseth Road into victory lane in the 2012 Daytona 500. Missouri native Carl Edwards grabbed pole position for the event, but couldn't stay at the front of the pack after that. At one point he slipped into the 20s around lap 50, but managed to battle his way back into the race and finished inside the top 10. His eighth place finish isn't quite what Edwards had been hoping for, but is still a very respectable result in a calamitous race.

The headline event from the night was undoubtedly a collision between Juan Pablo Montoya and a Jet-Dryer truck that produced a massive fire on the tracks. SB Nation's NASCAR blog, Nascar Ranting & Raving, explains the calamity:

While speeding down the back stretch to catch up with the field while under caution Montoya's car suddenly veered right and slid up the track colliding with the Jet-Dryer that was cleaning the track. Mechanical problems were to blame for Montoya's sudden change in direction. After the collision, which totaled Montoya's car, the Jet Dryer's ruptured fuel tank spewed its contents onto the racing surface where it ignited into a massive wall of fire. NASCAR's fire team were eventually able to get the situation under control but, the track was slightly damaged during the intense inferno.


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Here are the complete results for the 2012 Daytona 500:

  1. Matt Kenseth
  2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  3. Greg Biffle
  4. Denny Hamlin
  5. Jeff Burton
  6. Paul Menard
  7. Kevin Harvick
  8. Carl Edwards
  9. Joey Logano
  10. Mark Martin
  11. Clint Bowyer
  12. Martin Truex Jr.
  13. Marcos Ambrose
  14. Bobby Labonte
  15. Dave Blaney
  16. Tony Stewart
  17. Kyle Busch
  18. Terry Labonte
  19. Tony Raines
  20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  21. Ryan Newman
  22. Landon Cassill
  23. David Gilliland
  24. Regan Smith
  25. Casey Mears
  26. David Reutimann
  27. Elliott Sadler
  28. Joe Nemechek
  29. Kasey Kahne
  30. Michael McDowell
  31. Jamie McMurray
  32. Brad Keselowski
  33. Aric Almirola
  34. AJ Allmendinger
  35. Trevor Bayne
  36. Juan Pablo Montoya
  37. David Stremme
  38. Danica Patrick
  39. Kurt Busch
  40. Jeff Gordon
  41. Robby Gordon
  42. Jimmie Johnson
  43. David Ragan

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For more in-depth coverage of NASCAR and the 2012 Daytona 500, head over to Nascar Ranting & Raving. And for more racing coverage, visit SB Nation's NASCAR news hub.