The first Sprint Cup race of the year is in the books and Matt Kenseth walked away as the winner of the 2012 Daytona 500. It didn't come easy, though, thanks to an unprecedented Monday night start and a two-hour delay caused by a yellow-flag wreck that sparked a huge fire. But when it was all said and done, Kenseth took home a seven-figure purse and the very early points lead in the series.
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Kenseth is followed in the points standings by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin -- a three-way tie for second-place in the points. The rest of the Sprint Cup drivers are bunched close together, which is to be expected after just one race.
In addition to the points, Kenseth also took home $1,589,387. Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose run off turn four came up just short, earned $1,102,175 for his second-place finish. Martin Truex Jr. picked up $200,000 for leading the race at the halfway point. The full list of prize money can be found in this StoryStream.
Here are the latest NASCAR points standings, updated after the Daytona 500. Kenseth leads with 47 points and the table is sorted by the number of points each driver is behind him.
- Matt Kenseth --
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -5
- Greg Biffle -5
- Denny Hamlin -5
- Jeff Burton -7
- Paul Menard -8
- Kevin Harvick -10
- Carl Edwards -11
- Joey Logano -11
- Mark Martin -12
- Clint Bowyer -14
- Martin Truex Jr. -14
- Marcos Ambrose -16
- Bobby Labonte -17
- Dave Blaney -17
- Tony Stewart -18
- Kyle Busch -20
- Terry Labonte -20
- Tony Raines -22
- Ryan Newman -24
- Landon Cassill -25
- David Gilliland -26
- Regan Smith -26
- Casey Mears -28
- David Reutimann -29
- Kasey Kahne -32
- Michael McDowell -33
- Jamie McMurray -34
- Brad Keselowski -35
- Aric Almirola -36
- AJ Allmendinger -37
- Juan Pablo Montoya -39
- David Stremme -40
- Kurt Busch -42
- Jeff Gordon -42
- Robby Gordon -44
- Jimmie Johnson -45
- David Ragan -46
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -47
- Elliott Sadler* -47
- Joe Nemechek* -47
- Trevor Bayne* -47
- Danica Patrick* -47
* -- Driver was ineligible for points in this series
For more on the wild race that was, visit our 2012 Daytona 500 StoryStream. If you missed Juan Pablo Montoya's crash, be sure to check out the video.