What about Stage 2? This stage of the race begins when the green flag drops for the restart. The same point system is in place as it was for Stage 1. Drivers who are running first through 10th at the conclusion of Stage 2 will receive stage bonus points, starting with 10 points for first place, nine points for second place and so on. Also, the driver who finishes Stage 2 first will receive one playoff point to carry into the postseason. Just as at the end of Stage 1, there will be another planned caution period at the end of Stage 2. The final stage starts when the green flag drops.</s>DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Decked in Monster gear and chugging a tall boy of the energy drink as he was flanked by scantily clad models and one of pro sports’ top partiers, Kurt Busch celebrated the biggest win of his racing career.

Busch used a last-lap pass to win the crash-filled Daytona 500 on Sunday in the opening race of Monster Energy’s new role as title sponsor of NASCAR’s top series. Busch, it just so happens, is also sponsored by Monster, and the company has strongly stood by him through his rocky career.

So this was a victory of redemption for Busch, who was suspended by NASCAR two days before the 2015 Daytona 500 for his off-track behavior, and for Monster, which has promised to pump new life into NASCAR’s sagging sport.

“I’ve had a lot of people that have believed in me through the years, a lot of people that have supported me,” Busch said.

Gronkowski celebrated with Busch and the Monster girls in victory lane. He raved about the win and seemed to really enjoy his first Daytona 500, the first for NASCAR’s new three-segment format and one filled with wrecks.

“Monster’s the best!” Gronk shouted to The Associated Press. “We picked Kurt to win and he won ’cause he’s a Monster guy. Kurt did an awesome job. Monster killed that race!”

Gronk and Busch likely will celebrate late into the night, well after the banged-up No. 41 Ford heads to the museum for its yearlong display at Daytona International Speedway.

“The more that becomes unpredictable about Daytona, the more it becomes predictable to predict unpredictability,” Busch said. “This car’s completely thrashed. There’s not a straight panel on it. The strategy today, who knew what to pit when, what segments were what. Everybody’s wrecking as soon as we’re done with the second segment.

“The more that I’ve run this race, the more that I just throw caution to the wind, let it rip and just elbows out. That’s what we did.”

It wasn’t NASCAR’s finest moment, though, as multiple accidents pared down the field and had a mismatched group of drivers racing for the win at the end.

It appeared to be pole-sitter Chase Elliott’s race to lose, then he ran out of gas. So did Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne. As they all slipped off the pace, Busch sailed through for his first career Daytona 500 victory in 16 tries.

It also was the first Daytona 500 win for Stewart-Haas Racing, which is co-owned by Tony Stewart. The three-time champion retired at the end of last season and watched his four cars race from the pits.

“I ran this damn race (17) years and couldn’t win it, so finally won it as an owner,” Stewart said. “It’s probably the most patient race I’ve ever watched Kurt Busch run. He definitely deserved that one for sure.”

It was a crushing defeat for Elliott, who is developing a reputation as a driver unable to immediately digest defeat. He left the track without comment in a car driven by his father, Hall of Famer Bill Elliott.

Ryan Blaney finished second in a Ford. AJ Allmendinger was third in a Chevrolet, and Aric Almirola was fourth for Richard Petty Motorsports.

“I can understand his disappointment, for sure,” Blaney said of Elliott, his friend and rival. “You’re leading the race. Looks like you’re going to win the Daytona 500. You know how he is, he’s very hard on himself. But it wasn’t his fault. You can’t help you run out of gas.”

The win was a huge boost for Ford, which lured Stewart-Haas Racing away from Chevrolet this season and celebrated the coup with its second Daytona 500 victory in three years. Joey Logano won in a Ford in 2015.

“What a great win to start off a partnership,” said Raj Nair, Ford’s chief technical officer. “We were so fast. We knew we had a good chance and Kurt hung in there after getting caught up in that crash. He didn’t give up.”

The first points race of the Monster era was run under a new format that split the 500 miles into three stages. Kyle Busch won the first stage, Kevin Harvick won the second stage and neither was a contender for the win. NASCAR also this year passed a rule that gave teams just five minutes to repair any damage on their cars or they were forced to retire.

But the race was slowed by wreck after wreck after wreck, including a 17-car accident at the start of the final stage that ended the race for seven-time and reigning series champion Jimmie Johnson and Danica Patrick. It was a particularly rough incident for Patrick and her Stewart-Haas Racing team, which had all four of its cars collected in the accident.

“Just seems like that could have been avoided and was uncalled for,” Johnson said about the aggressive racing behind him that triggered the accident.

Kurt Busch was able to continue, but most of the top contenders found themselves on the outside looking in.

“Some years I think we have it where we run here and nobody wrecks and it’s great racing,” said Brad Keselowski, “and then you have other years like this where everybody wrecks all the time.”

Roughly two hours before the race, NASCAR chairman Brian France issued drivers a stern warning about blocking.

France rarely wades into competition matters, especially in public, but stepped to the microphone to admonish the drivers. The Truck Series and Xfinity Series races were sloppy wreck-fests, and France hardly wanted the same spectacle for his Super Bowl.

“This is our biggest event,” France told the packed drivers meeting. “What I don’t normally do, and I’m going to do this today, is bring up a competition issue. This is for the drivers. And what I want you to think about. We realize blocking is part of racing. We understand that. We accept that.

“Do not look for NASCAR … when you block somebody out there. It causes almost all the big incidents. Do not look for NASCAR … you better hope there’s a Good Samaritan behind you who is going to accept that block, because they have that lane and the right to it. And I don’t often make those statements.”

Blocking or not, the race was a mess of tangled sheet metal and wrecked cars.</s>DAYTONA BEACH, F.L. (AP) — Kurt Busch has won the Daytona 500, surviving a crash-filled season opener to win the race for the first time in 16 tries.

Busch passed Kyle Larson final lap before cruising to the victory. Larson ran out gas shortly after passing Chase Elliott, who also came up short on fuel.

Busch led only one lap — the only one that mattered. He won in the No. 41 Ford that was partly sponsored by Monster Energy, the new title sponsor for NASCAR.

Busch prevailed in a race that saw many of NASCAR biggest stars knocked out in crashes. Seven-time and defensive Cup series champion Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Danica Patrick, Jamie McMurray and Brad Keselowski were among those eliminated long before the checkered flag flew.</s>(AP) — The Latest on the Daytona 500 (all times local):

Kurt Busch has won the Daytona 500, surviving a crash-filled season opener to win the race for the first time in 16 tries.

Busch passed Kyle Larson final lap before cruising to the victory. Larson ran out gas shortly after passing Chase Elliott, who also came up short on fuel.

Busch led only one lap — the only one that mattered. He won in the No. 41 Ford that was partly sponsored by Monster Energy, the new title sponsor for NASCAR.

Busch prevailed in a race that saw many of NASCAR biggest stars knocked out in crashes. Seven-time and defensive Cup series champion Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Danica Patrick, Jamie McMurray and Brad Keselowski were among those eliminated long before the checkered flag flew.

NASCAR’s biggest stars continue to crash out of the Daytona 500.

Seven-time and defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson wrecked, and at least 16 other cars suffered some sort of damage. Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Danica Patrick and Clint Bowyer were involved, ending their race.

SHR drivers Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick were involved in the melee but stayed on the track.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth are among the favorites knocked out earlier in the race.

The race returned to green, and there was yet another wreck that collected Roush Fenway Racing drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and former Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne.

Kevin Harvick has won the second stage of the Daytona 500, earning key points under NASCAR’s revamped race format.

Harvick earned one playoff point and 10 driver points for leading the race through the first 120 laps.

The stages in NASCAR’s biggest race are scheduled to end on laps 60, 120 and 200. Kyle Busch won the first stage but triggered a multi-car wreck and was knocked out of the race in the second.

The top 10 drivers at the end of Stage 1 and Stage 2 will be awarded points on a 10-through-1 scale. The third portion of the race will be for the overall victory, and although traditional point scoring will be applied for that stage, the win will be worth 40 points.

Joey Logano was second through the second stage, followed by Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Danica Patrick. Harvick, Busch and Patrick are all driving Fords for the first time for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is out of the Daytona 500 in his first Cup race since July.

Earnhardt was caught up in multi-car accident triggered by Kyle Busch. Busch spun to start the accident, and collected not only his Toyota teammates, but Earnhardt as well.

The 42-year-old Earnhardt, a two-time Daytona 500 champion, brought the No. 88 Chevrolet to the garage. Under new rules, cars that go to the garage aren’t allowed to return to race.

“I had a good car, boy. Sorry about that,” Earnhardt said over the radio.

“Nothing you could do,” crew chief Greg Ives said.

The race was stopped for 17 minutes because of the debris from the wreck that also knocked out Matt Kenseth and Erik Jones. Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motorsports crew tried to repair the damage, but the 88 was unsalvageable.

Earnhardt made his comeback during Speedweeks after missing the second half of last season.

Kyle Busch spun to start a multi-car accident that collected not only his Toyota teammates, but fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., as well.

Busch may have had a tire problem that triggered his spin. He turned directly in the path of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth, but Erik Jones, a de facto Gibbs driver at Furniture Row Racing.

“Fantastic. Right rear went down entering Turn 3,” Busch said as he headed to the garage.

Earnhardt went to pit road, where he had just five minutes to repair the damage to his car or risk being parked for the remainder of the race.

“Man, tore up three JGR cars and Junior as well,” Busch said. “Goodyear tires just aren’t any good at holding air.”

Busch had won the first stage of the race.

Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. is leading at the halfway mark of the Daytona 500.

NASCAR’s most popular driver crossed the finish line first on Lap 100, just ahead of Elliott Sadler and seven-time and defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.

Earnhardt is trying to make a triumphant return from his fifth documented concussion, the latest costing him half of last season.

All 40 cars remain in the 500-mile race, although only 33 remain on the lead lap.

Kyle Busch won the first stage of the Daytona 500, the first one completed under NASCAR’s revamped race format.

Busch earned one playoff point and 10 driver points for leading the race through the first 60 laps.

The stages in NASCAR’s biggest race are scheduled to end on laps 60, 120 and 200.

The top 10 drivers at the end of Stage 1 and Stage 2 will be awarded points on a 10-through-1 scale. The third portion of the race will be for the overall victory, and although traditional point scoring will be applied for that stage, the win will be worth 40 points.

Kevin Harvick was second in the first stage, followed by Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Hendrick Motorsports used teamwork to help Chase Elliott settle into the Daytona 500.

Elliott started on the pole but struggled to hold the lead during the first stage of the race. During a caution period, veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr. was asked by his crew if he could relay any advice to how Elliott was attacking the race.

Earnhardt said Elliott needed to understand when to side draft and when to jump into a gap to deliberately slow a line of traffic.

Earnhardt is a two-time Daytona 500 winner and started on the front row next to Elliott.

Corey LaJoie created the first caution of the Daytona 500.

LaJoie seemingly made a late call to try to get on pit road, locked up his brakes and then slid across the track and slammed into the outside wall. LaJoie’s No. 83 Toyota sustained damaged to its front-ride fender, but managed to stay in the race.

“What the hell was he doing?” fellow driver Clint Bowyer said over his radio. “Glad he went the other way.”

Former NASCAR champion Kurt Busch was penalized during the caution flag for speeding on pit road.

Rookie Daniel Suarez made a rare mistake in his first Daytona 500.

Suarez was caught speeding on pit road as the Toyota drivers all made their first pit stops at the same time. The idea was to keep the Toyota drivers together, but the speeding penalty forced the rookie back to pit road.

The mistake cost Suarez a lap, and he was running last in the 40-car field.

Suarez is the only foreign-born, full-time driver in NASCAR’s Cup Series. The Mexican won the Xfinity Series championship last year and got an unexpected promotion to NASCAR’s top level when Carl Edwards decided not to return to Joe Gibbs Racing.

Suarez is a rookie in the Daytona 500, which is the longest race of his career.

The 59th running of the Daytona 500 is underway, with pole-sitter Chase Elliott leading the 40-car field to the green flag waved by Pro Football Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson.

Elliott started on the pole for the second consecutive year, with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. also on the front row. Earnhardt is trying to make a triumphant return from his fifth documented concussion, the latest costing him half of last season.

Two-time race winner Michael Waltrip is making his final NASCAR start. Four drivers — rookies Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones as well as Corey LaJoie and D.J. Kennington — are making their first start in “The Great American Race.”

Denny Hamlin is the defending Daytona 500 winner, and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates are among others to watch. So are Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, who three of four restrictor-plate races last season.

Three drivers dropped to the back of the field because of engine changes: seven-time and defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, Paul Menard and Ryan Blaney.

The Gronk Spike has touched down at Daytona.

Rob Gronkowski, known as much for his off-field frivolity as his on-field talent for the New England Patriots, was the star of the show before the Daytona 500.

He had Monster Energy drinks and Monster girls all around him, a winning party combo for Gronk.

“I’m a fan of both of ’em,” Gronkowski said. “I make the girls make my own drink so I get the benefit of both.”

Gronkowski mingled with drivers in the garage, though he skipped riding the Monster Energy motorcycle “Ball of Death” in the fan zone.

“I got my one boy, Bobby Goons. He does all the stunt double (work) for me I’m not allowed to do,” he said. “He rode a bull about a couple of weeks ago in New York.”

Gronkowski attended his first Daytona 500 as a guest of Monster Energy, the new title sponsor in NASCAR’s Cup series. Gronkowski has an endorsement deal with Monster and wore a black T-shirt sporting a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series logo.

Daytona seemed the perfect fit for Gronk.

“I’m just having a blast,” he said. “I never really got to tailgate. I never really got to run-around (on Sundays). It’s cool to run-around and meet people, enjoy the atmosphere, see what really goes down on this side of the stadium.”

Gronkowski received the loudest ovation among all actors, athletes and other dignitaries introduced at the pre-race drivers meeting. Gronkowski had back surgery in December and missed New England’s Super Bowl win over Atlanta.

“It’s definitely tough, I ain’t gonna lie,” Gronkowski said. “It makes me want to go harder. Makes me want to rehab, makes me want to get back out on the field and be out with the boys.”

NASCAR chairman Brian France issued a stern warning to drivers about blocking during the pre-race meeting for the Daytona 500.

France rarely wades into competition issues, but used his time at the microphone to warn the field that NASCAR will not interject if a driver tries to block another and it goes wrong.

“Blocking is part of racing,” France told drivers. “It causes big crashes. When you block somebody, you better hope there is a good Samaritan behind you.”

In other words, NASCAR won’t penalize a driver who wrecks someone trying to block.

Blocking caused multiple accidents in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series season openers at Daytona earlier this week.

Owen Wilson might need more time to rehearse his lines as the race’s grand marshal. Wilson’s quip that he should have an easy time instructing drivers to start their engines for the Daytona 500 backfired when he messed up one of the key words.

“Well, yeah, um, it shouldn’t be too tricky. I think it’s, ‘Racers, start your engines?'” Wilson said.

Told it was, “drivers,” Wilson cracked, “Oh, see, I already made a mistake.”

Rule #76: No excuses. Give the command like a champion! Luckily for him, he gets a second take.

Wilson will voice Lightning McQueen in the upcoming movie “Cars 3.” Wilson said his former “Cars” co-star Paul Newman would have been the actor that would have been the best NASCAR driver. Newman, who died in 2008, was a passionate race fan, driver and team owner.

“I just saw a documentary on his racing and he seemed to have almost more of a passion for that than the stuff he was doing in the movies,” Wilson said.

Wilson received some Daytona tips from “Wedding Crashers” co-star Vince Vaughn, who served as grand marshal two years ago.

“His big tip was not to watch his YouTube clip of him doing it because why see perfection?” Wilson said.

With “Zoolander 2” out of the running for an Oscar, Wilson picked “La La Land” as the favorite to win some awards in tonight’s ceremony.

“That ‘La La Land’ I thought was pretty good,” he said. “I went in seeing that, I was like, ‘I don’t know how much I’ll like a musical.’ But I felt that one was good pretty. And then, umm, yeah.”

A star-studded lineup of actors, musicians and celebrities is usually on hand for the Daytona 500. A handful of them have definitive roles for the season opener.

There are always more just taking in NASCAR biggest event.

The list this year includes actor Keanu Reeves, former NFL coach Rex Ryan, Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, New York Jets receiver Brandon Marshall, former Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf, four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti, comedian Larry The Cable Guy, home improvement celeb Ty Pennington and celebrity chef Guy Fieri.

Others include major league catcher A.J. Pierzynski, Orlando Magic players Nikola Vucevic and Jeff Green, actor/singer Jamie Lynn Spears, comedian Nate Bargatze, comedian Bill Burr, UFC fighter Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, rapper Waka Flocka Flame, hip hop disc jockey DJ Whoo Kid and Olympic gold medalist Laurie Hernandez, a gymnast who is the most recent winner of “Dancing with the Stars.”

Actor Owen Wilson, the grand marshal for the race, drew the biggest crowds.

Even other celebrities took notice.

“What was it like having Owen Wilson up here?” said Dave Haywood, one-third of the trio Lady Antebellum. “I was kind of geeking out on that.”

NFL Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson seems like the perfect person to wave the green flag to start the Daytona 500.

“Jimmie Johnson told me, ‘Just don’t drop it,'” Tomlinson said. “I wasn’t a guy that fumbled a lot, so I’m not worried about dropping it today.”

The flag should be in sure hands: Tomlinson fumbled just 30 times in nearly 4,000 touches over his 11-year NFL career.

Tomlinson is the honorary starter, and former “American Idol” contestant Jordin Sparks will sing the national anthem.

Sparks and Tomlinson, who star in the film “God Bless The Broken Road,” both called attending the race a bucket list item.

Sparks says she plans to shave almost 20 seconds of her anthem performance in the 2008 Super Bowl. She earned rave reviews for her rendition.

“Usually in a football stadium or a different stadium, half the crowd is behind me,” she said. “Now, I can see as far as my eye can see. Just a little more pressure.”

Her performance will be followed by a flyover from the famed U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.

Mario Andretti is at Daytona as an honorary race official, 50 years after his victory in “The Great American Race.”

Andretti won the 1967 Daytona 500 and is one of only four drivers to win both the 500 and the prestigious Rolex 24 sports car race. He joins AJ Foyt, Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon in that club.

Andretti is a fixture in IndyCar, and his visits to NASCAR are rare. But he understands this race is the equivalent of the Indianapolis 500 and a Daytona 500 victory carries the same weight on a drivers’ resume.

“There are many drivers who are deserving to win, and never win the big ones,” Andretti said. “I guarantee during the driver meeting, there is more tension than any other race. This is the crown jewel of NASCAR. The winner of today’s race will have a big, big feather on his or her hat.”

Daytona International Speedway officials presented Andretti with a painting of his two winning cars at Daytona.

Denny Hamlin is trying to join an exclusive club of repeat Daytona 500 champions.

Hamlin would become only the fourth driver to win consecutive Daytona 500s, and the first in 22 years. Richard Petty, a seven-time Daytona 500 champ, went back-to-back in 1973 and 1974. Cale Yarborough did the same in 1983 and 1984. Sterling Marlin was the last driver — in 1994 and 1995 — to have his name etched on the Harley J. Earl Trophy two straight years.

Hamlin defeated Martin Truex Jr. by 0.010 seconds last year, the closest finish in race history.

Hamlin is in solid shape in the No. 11 Toyota to be a contender to repeat. He won a 150-mile qualifying race last week and starts fourth.

The Daytona 500 will have perfect weather.

The high is expected to be 67 degrees in Daytona Beach, with clear skies, plenty of sunshine and zero chance of rain.

NASCAR’s season opener was delayed by rain twice in the last five years, getting pushed into prime time in 2014 and postponed to Monday in 2012.

The exhibition Clash at Daytona last week was postponed a day because of heavy rain.

The 59th running of the Daytona 500 begins Sunday afternoon, with Chase Elliott on the pole for the second consecutive year. Although Elliott had the fastest car in qualifying, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. is getting most of the attention. Earnhardt is returning from his fifth documented concussion, the latest costing him half of last season.

Earnhardt will start alongside Elliott on the front row of “The Great American Race.”

Elliott won one of two qualifying races Thursday. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, the defending Daytona 500 winner, won the other.

Others to watch in the season opener — NASCAR’s most prestigious race — include Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. The Team Penske teammates won three of four restrictor-plate races last season.</s>DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kurt Busch had a monster start to the season with a last-lap pass to win the crash-filled Daytona 500.

Busch is sponsored by Monster Energy, which kicked off its first season as the title sponsor for NASCAR’s top series Sunday with the season-opener. It wasn’t NASCAR finest moment, though, as multiple accidents pared down the field and had a mismatched group of drivers racing for the win at the end.

“The more that becomes unpredictable about Daytona, the more it becomes predictable to predict unpredictability,” Busch said. “This car’s completely thrashed. There’s not a straight panel on it. The strategy today, who knew what to pit when, what segments were what. Everybody’s wrecking as soon as we’re done with the second segment.

“The more that I’ve run this race, the more that I just throw caution to the wind, let it rip and just elbows out. That’s what we did.”

It appeared to be pole-sitter Chase Elliott’s race to lose, then he ran out of gas. So did Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard. As they all slipped off the pace, Busch sailed through for his first career Daytona 500 victory.

It also was the first Daytona 500 win for Stewart-Haas Racing, which is co-owned by Tony Stewart. The three-time champion retired at the end of last season and watched his four cars race from the pits.

“I ran this damn race (17) years and couldn’t win it, so finally won it as an owner,” Stewart said.

Ryan Blaney finished second in a Ford. AJ Allmendinger was third in a Chevrolet, and Aric Almirola was fourth for Richard Petty Motorsports.

The win was a huge boost for Ford, which lured Stewart-Haas Racing away from Chevrolet this season and celebrated the coup with its second Daytona 500 victory in three years. Joey Logano won in a Ford in 2015.

The first points race of the Monster era was run under a new format that split the 500 miles into three stages. Kyle Busch won the first stage, Kevin Harvick won the second stage and neither was a contender for the win. NASCAR also this year passed a rule that gave teams just five minutes to repair any damage on their cars or they were forced to retire.

But the race was slowed by wreck after wreck after wreck, including a 17-car accident at the start of the final stage that ended the race for seven-time and reigning series champion Jimmie Johnson and Danica Patrick. It was a particularly rough incident for Patrick and her Stewart-Haas Racing team, which had all four of its cars collected in the accident.

“Just seems like that could have been avoided and was uncalled for,” Johnson said of the aggressive racing behind him that triggered the accident.</s>Kurt Busch led only one lap Sunday afternoon, but it was the only one that mattered, as he emerged from a wasteland of rubber, plastic and metal to win his first Daytona 500.

Busch was running in second place behind Kyle Larson when the white flag came out, but assumed the lead on the final lap when the No. 42 ran out of fuel. With Larson out of contention, Ryan Blaney, AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almirola and Paul Menard moved up the order to round out the top five.

It was a tale of two races at Daytona International Speedway. The first half of the 200-lap restrictor-plate extravaganza was relatively cordial, but the second half was a totally different story. When the dust settled, the Great American Race looked more like one of Last Thursday’s 20-driver Can-Am Duels, as nearly half of the race’s 40-driver field were forced to exit early.

But the day belonged to Busch. The 38-year-old Stewart-Haas Racing driver capitalized after Chase Elliott, who led for much of the third-and-final stage, ran out of gas with three laps remaining.

Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Danica Patrick were among the racers whose afternoons ended early, as much of the of the race’s second and third stages were run under caution.

While the win certainly must be sweet for Busch, who’s finished the Daytona 500 as a runner-up three times, it’s hard not to feel for Elliott, who appeared to be headed for his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race victory. Michael Waltrip, competing in his final NASCAR race, finished eighth in his 30th Daytona 500.

NASCAR heads to Altanta Motor Speedway next, for the Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 on March 5.</s>Once the carnage clears, historians will document the 2017 Daytona 500 by the pieces of sheet metal scattered throughout the iconic super-speedway.

Checkers, wreckers and rubber-neckers going close to 200 miles an hour caused all sorts of craziness.

Kurt Busch survived the race to finish up front, and he certainly is a deserving veteran, but it certainly is more a testimony to fortuitous luck in avoiding the collateral damage. Only 15 cars out of 40 that began the day were on the lead lap at the finish, led by Busch, the 2004 Cup season champion.

“I almost forgot to drive the line I was supposed to drive because I was shutting off all my switches, going to reserve fuel and saying a Hail Mary. It all turned out,” Busch said. “Here we are in victory lane. I can’t believe it.”

He gathered his 29th Cup victory and first one at the fabled 500. Given the craziness of the day, Busch only led the last lap and couldn’t see what was behind him because his rear-view mirror fell off with 30 laps to go.

“I ran this race 18 years and couldn’t win it,” said Tony Stewart, one of Busch’s bosses at Stewart-Haas Racing. “This is awesome, man.”

Busch pushed his No. 41 Ford to the front after Chase Elliott, the pole-sitter, ran out of gas with two laps to go.

It was a predictable run of misery reflective of many drivers on the day.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Daniel Suárez, among others, called it a day before the end of the 200 laps. The collateral damage included NASCAR’s executives, who had prime seats to a parade of its stars leaving the sport’s most prestigious race of the season.

“I had a good car, boys,” Earnhardt told his crew after he was collected in the early mess. “Sorry about that for ya. I was having a good time today.”

Earnhardt and Kenseth were dropped from contention after Kyle Busch lost control of his No. 18 Toyota after a blown rear tire. The car hit the wall along Turn 3, and took out a number of drivers, including Earnhardt and Kenseth.

With 48 laps still left, 35 cars had received damage.

That included Johnson’s Lowe’s Chevy. Johnson, the 7-time Cup champion, went spinning after contact by Jamie McMurray’s car.

“That could have been avoided and it wasn’t called for,” Johnson said. “From the minute I got off of Turn 2 on the entire back straightaway, I kept getting hit and the rear tires are off the ground. I know there is a lot of energy behind me in the pack, but I didn’t have a chance. I fought it the whole straightaway and finally got turned going into [Turn] 3. It’s very unfortunate.

“I hate it for Lowe’s. I hate it for Chevrolet. We’ll go to Atlanta next week and see what we can do there.”

Onto Atlanta it is for a lot of drivers.

As for the Daytona deal, it was an ominous start for a revamped playoff format that had played to mixed reviews before anyone completed their first lap.

Industry leaders — including a handful of drivers — came together during the off-season and blew up the Chase format model. Starting in Daytona, races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series will consist of three stages, with championship implications in each stage.

The new format will award a playoff point to the winner of the first two stages, and the race winner will receive five points.

This year's Daytona 500 consisted of two 60-lap stages, followed by a final 80-lap stage to make up the 200 scheduled laps.</s>DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — This was what Kurt Busch craved, Tony Gibson deserved and Tony Stewart pursued for so long.

But it wasn’t what NASCAR needed, not on this day. It’s simply Busch’s misfortune that his win Sunday in the Daytona 500 will be parsed for anything other than being his greatest moment in a race car, Gibson’s as a crew chief or Stewart’s as an owner after failing to win NASCAR’s premier showcase in 17 tries as a driver.

This Speedweeks had already been all about crossroads, improving ratings, finding a footing as an industry even before stakeholders locked figurative arms to show solidarity after a Wall Street Journal article that many felt besmirched the sport. Monster Energy’s entry as title sponsor was highly scrutinized, and a new points system was unveiled to stoke ratings and rejuvenate the sport’s prospects.

A glorious Sunday began strangely on a red carpet lined with dancing Monster Energy girls leading competitors to the drivers meeting where series Chairman Brian France admonished drivers not to block each other.

Then after 14 cars representing seven past Daytona 500 wins were eradicated in a series of sublime wrecks, Busch’s victory turned into a resolution that will leave many unfulfilled. And that has nothing to do with his often tempestuous past. It has everything to do with NASCAR dodging the potential calamity of an absurd race when it needed a showpiece.

Twenty-one-year-old pole-sitter Chase Elliott, son of Hall of Famer and two-time Daytona 500 winner Bill Elliott, led for 23 laps entering the final three circuits around the 2.5-mile racetrack. A win might have enticed desperately needed younger fans to patronize NASCAR. Or it might have done nothing.

It might have helped Atlanta Motor Speedway officials put more patrons into their generally highly available stands next weekend to cheer for a homegrown Georgia son. Maybe not.

But those enticing prospects sputtered away with the last wisps of fuel in Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet with two laps left.

Then Kyle Larson, 24, another driver on whom NASCAR has pinned a great deal of its hopes and prayers, took the lead but ran out of fuel with one lap left.

This strange day in which the comeback of Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been snuffed in a wreck, Corey LaJoie nearly plowed through Clint Bowyer when he appeared to lose brakes and otherwise professional race car drivers kept running into each other, might have been saved.

Busch, Gibson and Stewart won it, and that’s all that matters. They should celebrate it.

PHOTOS: Best of the 2017 Daytona 500

The sport as a whole, though, might linger on what could have been.

Busch, whose career and personal life have been pocked by misadventure of his doing and otherwise — “some different patches here and there,” he said — was humble in finally winning at a place where he dutifully pushed then-Team Penske teammate Ryan Newman to a Daytona 500 win in 2008 but had been frustrated many times.

Gibson won at a track where his mother once worked in the ticket office when he was a kid growing up in Daytona Beach.

Stewart and co-owner Gene Haas won the 500 for the first time. They deserve to celebrate. So does Ford, which enticed SHR away from long-term relationships with Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports and was rewarded with a Daytona 500 win in their first race together. And his sponsor, Monster, will certainly be pleased, perhaps not for reasons it expected at the beginning of the day.

Busch said he didn’t realize at the time that Elliott had run out of fuel. He seemed let down by the information.

“The kid’s gonna be a superstar in this sport,” Busch said. “And circumstances were not in his favor today.”

For once, they were for Busch. But for the sport as a whole, likely not.</s>DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kurt Busch had a monster start to the season with a last-lap pass to win the crash-filled Daytona 500.

Busch is sponsored by Monster Energy, which kicked off its first season as the title sponsor for NASCAR’s top series Sunday with the season-opener. It wasn’t NASCAR finest moment, though, as multiple accidents pared down the field and had a mismatched group of drivers racing for the win at the end.

“The more that becomes unpredictable about Daytona, the more it becomes predictable to predict unpredictability,” Busch said. “This car’s completely thrashed. There’s not a straight panel on it. The strategy today, who knew what to pit when, what segments were what. Everybody’s wrecking as soon as we’re done with the second segment.

“The more that I’ve run this race, the more that I just throw caution to the wind, let it rip and just elbows out. That’s what we did.”

It appeared to be pole-sitter Chase Elliott’s race to lose, then he ran out of gas. So did Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard. As they all slipped off the pace, Busch sailed through for his first career Daytona 500 victory.

It also was the first Daytona 500 win for Stewart-Haas Racing, which is co-owned by Tony Stewart. The three-time champion retired at the end of last season and watched his four cars race from the pits.

“I ran this damn race (17) years and couldn’t win it, so finally won it as an owner,” Stewart said.

Ryan Blaney finished second in a Ford. AJ Allmendinger was third in a Chevrolet, and Aric Almirola was fourth for Richard Petty Motorsports.

The win was a huge boost for Ford, which lured Stewart-Haas Racing away from Chevrolet this season and celebrated the coup with its second Daytona 500 victory in three years. Joey Logano won in a Ford in 2015.

The first points race of the Monster era was run under a new format that split the 500 miles into three stages. Kyle Busch won the first stage, Kevin Harvick won the second stage and neither was a contender for the win. NASCAR also this year passed a rule that gave teams just five minutes to repair any damage on their cars or they were forced to retire.

But the race was slowed by wreck after wreck after wreck, including a 17-car accident at the start of the final stage that ended the race for seven-time and reigning series champion Jimmie Johnson and Danica Patrick. It was a particularly rough incident for Patrick and her Stewart-Haas Racing team, which had all four of its cars collected in the accident.

“Just seems like that could have been avoided and was uncalled for,” Johnson said of the aggressive racing behind him that triggered the accident.

Patrick wasn’t sure how bad her car was damaged, but knew it couldn’t be fixed in the five minutes NASCAR now allots under a new rule this season. Also eliminated in the wreck was new SHR teammate Clint Bowyer.

“The five-minute clock is an interesting new element,” she said. “I don’t know if it is good or bad, but we don’t want to go on track with stuff that isn’t safe. It is a real shame. I feel like we could have been a contender at the end, for sure we could have been an influencer.”

Kurt Busch was able to continue, but most of the top contenders found themselves on the outside looking in.

“Some years I think we have it where we run here and nobody wrecks and it’s great racing,” said Brad Keselowski, “and then you have other years like this where everybody wrecks all the time.”

Roughly two hours before the race, NASCAR chairman Brian France issued drivers a stern warning about blocking.

France rarely wades into competition matters, especially in public, but stepped to the microphone to admonish the drivers. The Truck Series and Xfinity Series races were sloppy wreck-fests, and France hardly wanted the same spectacle for his Super Bowl.

“This is our biggest event,” France told the packed drivers meeting. “What I don’t normally do, and I’m going to do this today, is bring up a competition issue. This is for the drivers. And what I want you to think about. We realize blocking is part of racing. We understand that. We accept that.

“Do not look for NASCAR … when you block somebody out there. It causes almost all the big incidents. Do not look for NASCAR … you better hope there’s a Good Samaritan behind you who is going to accept that block, because they have that lane and the right to it. And I don’t often make those statements.”

Blocking or not, the race was a mess of tangled sheet metal and wrecked cars.</s>DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kurt Busch has survived a wreck-filled race to win the 59th annual Daytona 500.
Kurt Busch wins his first Daytona 500, in the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event to contain stages within the race.