Daytona 500: Waltrip wins in the rain

The first rain came on lap 64, just after Ryan Newman had somersaulted on the front stretch without personal injury. Dale Earnhardt Jr was the leader at the time, but the writing on the wall came on the restart when his car failed to start-up. Despite a bump start from a nearby truck, his battery failed a few laps later, handing the leading DEI Chevrolet baton to team-mate Waltrip.

Some canny pit strategy from Jimmie Johnson's crew put him in the lead with the rain approaching, but a crash by last year's winner Ward Burton brought out the yellow flag with the dark clouds threatening.

At the restart, Waltrip benefited from assistance from Earnhardt Jr, who got to start alongside Johnson at a restart, as he was two laps behind, and was able to help Waltrip draft past Johnson into the lead.

The red flag appeared soon after due to more rain, with Waltrip leading Kurt Busch (Ford), Johnson (Chevrolet), Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet), Mark Martin (Ford) and Robby Gordon (Chevrolet). With no break in the weather likely, Waltrip was declared the winner as half of the race had been completed.