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NASCAR Sprint Unlimited: Matt Kenseth wins after two red flags

Matt Kenseth opened the 2015 NASCAR season with victory in a messy and twice red-flagged Sprint Unlimited at Daytona

Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Kenseth controlled the final stages of the non-championship race to keep long-time leader Martin Truex Jr's Furniture Row Chevrolet at bay, winning by 0.219 seconds.

Carl Edwards finished third on his debut for Gibbs, with Casey Mears having a strong run to fourth for Germain Racing, ahead of Kyle Larson.

Champion Kevin Harvick was fighting Edwards for third until a brush with Joey Logano on the penultimate lap caused him to smack the wall and fall back to 11th. The two drivers had a heated row about the incident in the pitlane afterwards.

Only 12 of the 25 entrants made it to the finish.

Fourteen cars were involved in the first race-stopping crash, triggered when Jamie McMurray spun mid-pack, and six sustained terminal damage - including Jimmie Johnson and polesitter Paul Menard.

A second red flag followed in the closing stages when Tony Stewart was sent spinning and collected Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch, resulting in a particularly violent impact for Biffle on the inside wall. His car then rebounded back into the out-of-control Busch's path and had another hard hit. All involved escaped unhurt.

Brad Keselowski had been the first retirement, sent into the wall on lap 22 of 75, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr spun into Austin Dillon's path late on.

RESULTS - 75 LAPS:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time/Gap
 1.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota         1h22m59.000s
 2.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Chevrolet       +0.219s
 3.  Carl Edwards        Joe Gibbs Toyota              +0.238s
 4.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet             +0.349s
 5.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet             +0.377s
 6.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                   +0.517s
 7.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet            +0.518s
 8.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota              +0.587s
 9.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet            +0.688s
10.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        +0.698s
11.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        +0.816s
12.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet           +0.868s

Retirements:

     Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        67 laps
     Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford             67 laps
     Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        67 laps
     Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford             61 laps
     Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet           61 laps
     Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                    55 laps
     Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota              45 laps
     Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota                45 laps
     Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet           45 laps
     Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet            45 laps
     Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet            45 laps
     Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet             45 laps
     Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                   22 laps

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