page_title: 2012 Daytona 500
section_title: Race
hierarchical_section_title: 2012 Daytona 500 / Race
caption_attribution_description: English: Matt Kenseth leads the field in the 2012 Daytona 500.
context_page_description: The 2012 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The 54th iteration of the event, it was held between February 27–28, 2012 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, before a crowd of 140,000. The 202-lap race was won by Matt Kenseth driving for Roush Fenway Racing for his first win of the season and his second Daytona 500 victory. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished second and Greg Biffle came in third.
  The race was scheduled for February 26 but heavy rain forced NASCAR officials to delay it until February 27 at 7:02 p.m. EST. Carl Edwards, who won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying, was immediately passed by Biffle before the first turn. Biffle maintained this position until he was passed by Regan Smith on lap eleven. Denny Hamlin took over the lead after a second caution period and led the race for 57 laps, during which Biffle also led. Matt Kenseth assumed the first place on lap 146 and maintained it until a seventh caution period twelve laps later.
context_section_description: The 2012 Daytona 500 was the first race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and was televised live in the United States by Fox. The race was due to start at 1:00 p.m. EST, but heavy rain  prompted NASCAR officials to delay it until the afternoon of February 27, making it the first Daytona 500 to be postponed; because of this, wrestler John Cena, who was supposed to drop the green flag, was in Portland for a WWE commitment. Further rain fell during February 27, delaying the race until 7:02 p.m. EST, making it the first race to start in primetime. Pastor Sonny Gallman of Central Baptist Church, Daytona, began the pre-race ceremonies with the invocation. Daytona Beach resident Melisa TenBroeck performed the U.S. national anthem, and Wood Brothers Racing co-founder Leonard Wood gave the command for the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Patrick, Menard, Montoya and Gilliland moved to the back of the grid because they had switched to their backup cars; Kurt Busch did the same because he had changed his car's engine. Kahne did not move to the rear because he changed to his backup car before the Gatorade Duels.
  Weather conditions at the start of the race were cloudy with the air temperature at 69 °F (21 °C). Biffle accelerated from the start line quicker than his teammate Edwards, leading him at the first turn. At the start of lap two a five car crash was triggered by Sadler making contact with Johnson in the tri-oval; Johnson's car spun sideways and caught those of Patrick, Kurt Busch, Ragan and Bayne. The incident triggered the first caution of the race and the pace car. Johnson and Ragan were forced to retire but Patrick, Bayne and Kurt Busch drove back to their garages for repairs. The race restarted on lap seven with Biffle leading Kenseth. On the eleventh lap, Smith had moved into the lead position; one lap later Biffle moved back into the lead in turn three with aid from teammate Edwards. On lap 13, Newman looped his car on the backstretch without making contact with the wall; a second caution was issued, during which the leaders, including Biffle, made pit stops. Menard and Hamlin—both of whom chose not to pit—led the field back to speed at the restart; by the end of the lap Hamiln had the lead. Hamlin began to pull away from the rest of the field, with Menard in his tow as the leaders began to run in single file. After starting the race in 26th, Truex had moved up 18 positions to eighth by lap 21, and Bowyer had moved up 20 positions to be running in tenth.
  Biffle tried to pass Truex for seventh on the 23rd lap but Truex kept the position. Both drivers continued to battle for the next two laps. By lap 25, Hamlin was still leading with Menard, Ragan, Logano, Jeff Burton, Ambrose and Truex in the top seven positions. Bayne rejoined the race on lap 37. On lap 44, Burton, with assistance from Biffle, moved into the lead on the outside of the exit of turn two. Hamlin, who had dropped to third, attempted a passing manoeuvre around the outside for the lead one lap later but dropped to sixth. Green flag pit stops began on lap 56; most of the leaders, including Burton, made pit stops on lap 59. Gordon moved into the lead on lap 61 and began to pull away from Burton. Three laps later, debris was reported in turn two, triggering the third caution. Some drivers, including Gordon, made pit stops for fuel during the caution. During Kenseth's pit stop on lap 66, his team made repairs to his car, which had a water pressure problem. His mechanics changed the car's water and Kenseth rejoined the race in 33rd.
  Burton led the field at the restart, followed by Biffle, Ambrose, Truex and Kyle Busch. Biffle passed Burton to gain the lead in turn one, with Ambrose moving into second by turn three. Burton had dropped to sixth position by lap 76; Truex had moved ahead of Biffle around the outside for the lead on the same lap. Biffle reclaimed the lead momentarily on lap 78 but Truex overtook him. Three laps later, the fourth caution of the race was prompted when Jeff Gordon's engine exploded and flames appeared from h
caption: Matt Kenseth leads Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. through the tri-oval
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "4256", "Image ImageLength": "2832", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "Second-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 National Guard/Quicken Loans Chevrolet pushes Greg Biffle (No. 16) towards winner Matt Kenseth (No. 17) as they head into Turn 1 on the final lap of the 54th running of the Daytona 500 on Tuesday morning at Daytona International Speedway. U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps, IMCOM Public Affairs", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D3", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2012:02:28 04:32:56", "Image Artist": "Tim Hipps", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "684", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1400", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1514", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6475", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "4000", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:02:27 23:55:12", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:02:27 23:55:12", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1120723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "1485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "4294967295", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF SubSecTime": "42", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "42", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "42", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2100", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1292", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1368", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "200", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}