nearing the 100th mile mark in the rain delay, 38 laps with kyle busch leading kasey kahne. michael waltrip, jeff hammond, denny hamlin who led some laps. michael, you thought brad keselowski had a quick ford? >> he does. so does logano, his teammate. ricky stenhouse, they both driven inside the top ten. dillon there fell back to tenth. >> i've been impressed about hats off to dillon doing a great job. how about kurt busch. he showed his muscle early on. still hanging around. >> alex bowman, the youngest

driver in the field at age 20. dale earnhardt jr. right behind him and cole whitt, another rookie rounding out to current 20. labonte the veteran. biffle had problems. >> early on, he had a strong ford until he had the bumpup with danica patrick on pit road. >> parker kligerman in the 29th position. look for him to take chances and try to charge to the front in this event. >> there were big names to start in the back of the pack. carl edwards, tony stewart, bowyer, johnson. >> some guy named michael waltrip. >> i will follow jimmie johnson. he's done pretty well in nascar. i think i'll see where he goes all night long. >> he only has two daytona 500s. that's all you have. what's the big the deal? he dhuz does have the championships. we were listening to him in the interview, you felt bad. we could all relate. we're excited about the opening of the season, the daytona 500. i went to sleep last night thinking this is my best chance. and then the engine goes.

>> the good thing about 2014 is he knows his chance to make the chase for the championship is still real. sometimes you get bone engine that lasts a couple times. now he says, okay, daytona 500 is over for me. let's go win phoenix. cash my check right into the chase. that's the attitude. >> that's what you have to do. a year ago he won out there at sonoma and had a chance to get in because of that win. this year, do it again, hey, daytona won't be a big deal to him. >> we're hoping to get back to daytona and have a terrific finish. keselowski out wandering to check the track. 14th year of nascar on fox. let's look back at some of the fantastic finishes we've been able to broadcast for you. >> the 2011 daytona 500. trevor bayne becomes the youngest winner of the great american race. he takes the 500 on the second green/white checkered. >> they'll face the white flag

when they come around to decide the 53rd daytona 500. rookie trevor bayne in his second sprint cup start will lead them to a white flag with bobby labonte. here comes kurt busch and juan man toy ya. edwards in fifth. we'll see the 22 knows how to win from that position. that's where he won the bud shootout. >> where did 34 come from? >> trying to spoil the party. he spoiled the party for montoya and busch. >> edwards has room underneath. now he pushes trevor bayne. >> it's over. >> cinderella is going to win at daytona 500! >> unbelievable! >> happy birthday, trevor bayne, 20 years old. >> are you kidding me! am i dreaming right now? >> the 2008 daytona 500 marked the 50th anniversary of nascar's

crown jewel and it did not disappoint. tony stewart, trying for the tenth time to win the great american race was leading on the final lap. >> for the win, strap down this big tv. she's going to go for a ride. here we come! white flag, final lap, one to go! >> he has a great car, no question about that. it's just a matter of if kurt can get a little help. and tony stewart blocks him. here comes kyle busch on the bottom. >> toyota drag race down the back. toyota drag race. >> teammates. >> now he has it. toyota on the inside lan. dodge on the outside lane. who will win it? it will come all the way to the wire. here they go, into turn three. teammates working together. 12 is going to win this race. i don't believe they can catch him. he's going to have to make it work! >> it's the boilermaker, ryan

newman. ryan newman and roger penske win the daytona 500. >> way to go, guys. >> jimmie johnson and greg biffle dominated the majority of the race. but in the end, it was the 99 car of carl edwards finding its way to a sprint cup victory lane for the first time. >> he's going to get a run at him. he'll get one shot at turn three and four. >> i'm telling you they'll be side to side when they come to the line. it will be another one of those fantastic atlanta finishes. >> johnson tries to block him. off turn four. >> and here they come and i think carl's got the advantage! >> he got it! >> he wins it! >> carl has done it! >> whoa! >> good job, yes! >> yeah, baby, yeah, baby! >> and these fans love it. >> look at carl. watch this. here he goes. come on. come on. >> yes! and that's after 500 miles of racing. >> the 2005 coca-cola 600 had a

nascar record 22 caution flags. after five hours of wild racing, the fans were treated to a thrilling finish as jimmie johnson was trying for a three-peat. >> i don't believe he can do it unless johnson messes up. >> side by side. bobby is on the high side. >> you can't pass over there. there's no way. >> it's all over, boys. >> was that the last best move made too soon? >> here he comes. outside. outside. >> just like in atlanta, last march, he won't be able to do it, i don't think. >> they're side by side! >> here he comes! >> jimmie johnson! >> the 48 car did it! he did it! >> three in a row, jimmie johnson! >> by .02. i thought when he got beat off of turn two it was all over but he drove it in on the outside and won it! >> boy, was that worth staying up late for or what? >> incredible.

>> in 2004, the final nascar race ended with one of the closest finishes in nascar history. matt kenseth was trying to hold off kasey kahne. >> kenseth went low in one. changes lanes. here comes kahne on the outside. >> just can't quite man it off of turn two. >> almost hit the wall exiting two. >> here kahne comes to the bottom. >> he has a good run on him. >> side by side to the line, kenseth! >> here it is again. coming out of two, mcmurray got a little loose and made it a two-car race. here they come to the line. >> got such a run off turn four. >> whoa, baby. >> wow! all right. >> the race for the checkered flag at talladega was one of the best in the history of nascar on fox. with two laps to go it appeared

to be newman or dale earnhardt jr.'s race until edwards and keselowski made their move. >> carl edwards white flag this time snrngs! >> yeah, edwards wins. >> three chevys and a ford. your friends are where you find them. carl edwards -- i don't know if they can catch him. what we've seen today, two cars get that big a run on them, i don't know that the 39 and the 88 can catch them. >> they're in the draft of edwards and keselowski. >> he's all over you. >> carl edwards restarted eighth. if that 09 can stay hooked to the back of the 99, it will be hard to get him. it will be close right here at the line. >> can keselowski try to win it? >> i don't know. i don't think he can step out until he waits to the last second. >> oh, no! >> he turns him. >> no, no, no! >> that destroyed the front end

of newman's car. >> no. >> edwards will not make it to the flag. >> oh, no. >> brad keselowski won this race. >> let's take a look, mike. carl edwards, he opened it up just a little bit. >> i'm not sure. i think this is a hard lick right into the fence. i mean, that car -- that looks like bobby alison did here in 1987. the catch fence did its job. the car did its job. >> thank goodness we have the much stronger, safer catch fences. >> not sure where carl is going. maybe he thinks if he runs across the start/finish line it will count. >> that's what he's doing. that's what he's doing. >> you know how he is, he's an athlete, a marathon runner. i want to finish the race. >> and he did. >> yes, he did. >> a standing ovation from the crowd. shades of ricky bobby. >> as for our number four finish, at atlanta motor speedway in 2001, only three

weeks after the death of the legendary dale earnhardt, kevin harvick the man tabbed to be earnhardt's replacement, battled one of the greats for a memorable and emotional first win. >> jeff gordon will give it all he's got. he is going to try to go down bottom. get down under him. gets a good run in three and four. they'll be coming for the white flag. here they go. one lap to go. >> the childress team trying to go to victory lane for the second year in a row in this race. >> get ready for another photo finish. get off your seats. here they go. >> two in a row, trying to set him up. gourd season going to make a big move on the inside. get down to turn three -- >> here he comes. drive it to the bottom. >> harvick is leaving a lot of -- >> oh, slow car. slow car. slow car will be in the way. >> just like a year ago, he's going to get it, though! >> gordon's got loose. it's harvick! harvick by inches!

harvick by inches. >> what a finish! >> how did jeff gordon hang on to that car that loose off turn four? man. >> i don't think we got him. >> 29 car, you got him, buddy. harvick, you got him. >> .006. >> my god. yes! >> look at this. >> man. >> for the win. >> that is -- .006? >> that's a replay of a year ago with dale earnhardt and bobby labonte. >> that's an incredible finish. >> what a job for that young man. >> look at dale earnhardt's car and team, kevin harvick, the young man who considers him --

>> listen to the crowd. i mean, that was incredible. >> look at kevin harvick as the fans saluted dale with the number 3 on the third lap. kevin harvick slualutes him on e way to victory lane. >> if i was him, i would run that out of gas riding around here. >> what could be more fitting. what could be more special. [ cheers and applause ]. >> number three, the 2007 daytona 500 was a race dominated by kurt busch and tony stewart, but when they crashed into each other with under 50 laps to go, it became a survival of the fastest. crowd favorite, mark martin, looked like he was in position to win his first daytona 500. >> here comes harvick, the 29, with matt kenseth. >> mark got loose. mark got loose and harvick is getting a run off turn four. it will be a drag race back to

the start/finish line. no question. they're side by side right to the line! >> here they come. checkered flag, harvick! >> harvick! >> kevin harvick wins the daytona 500! we got one car coming across the start/finish line. >> they're wrecking everywhere. >> bowyer is on fire. >> jeff gordon's wrecked. >> and there's -- they're still wrecking. >> what happens back here, kyle busch gets on the apron ever so slightly, gets into the 17 and it's on from there. >> look at the 38 car up on top of somebody. there's a car turning over. look at this finish. and it's a drag race to the line. and we've seen harvick do that before. >> yes, we have. >> you can see harvick trying to pinch him down to keep that momentum on him. >> little side draft, get a little side draft and try to pull ahead. >> watch the 07. he'll come in here from the

right in the bottom lane. >> clint bowyer. he gets slid sideways, wham-o. >> and he'll cross the start/finish line unofficially upside down in the 18th position. >> on fire. >> joey chitwood couldn't do that. >> coming in at number two .2 margin of victory, jimmie johnson with help from hez teammate, dale earnhardt jr. beats clint bowyer in a spectacular finish. you make the call. >> fifth and sixth, they are there. which group will they go with? will it help? will it help gourd on the victory lane. >> all bets are off. watch out, way low. snap

that is just a beautiful thing right there. two, four, six, eight cars, so close we can hardly capture it with our stock motion camera. there's a look at it, and there's the margin. darlington 2003 has will be selected as our greatest finish on fox.

the race has been remembered for ricky craven and kurt busch banging their way to the checkered flag. >> come on, baby. >> side by side. two laps to go. sub-got to make a deal going into turn one. busch, that was not a very good idea. got into it. >> come on, clear. good job, man. >> and here comes blaney. >> oh, baby, i'm telling you, kurt busch is not going to give up the win. >> no, he's not. >> coming to the white flag in time. ricky craven not going to give it up either. >> come on, ricky. >> come on, baby. >> here he comes. here we go again. he realized that wasn't a good move the last time. white flag. here he goes. he's going to try to slide under here. come on, baby. >> and blaine is coming. the car is driving careful right now. a lap to go. >> nah, they are driving good. come on, baby.

come on. get up alongside them. half a mile to go. >> here he comes of here he comes. >> who is going to get off? here he comes. here he comes. he's got him this time. >> it's going to be a drag race. they touch, they touch! >> craven's got it. craven got it. craven, all right! what a finish. >> have you ever? >> no, i've never. >> wow. >> what a finish. >> that is one happy group right there. >> that's one great race. i'm telling you, the greatest race i've ever seen. >> i've got to see this again. >> let's just watch. >> coming off turn four to the front stretch. that's about as close as it will get right here. >> and this right here, both up here in turn one, but, bam, oh,

boy, craven really shot out into it. >> it is amazing they didn't wreck at the start-finish line. >> darryl, if instead of busch coming down and comes down straight, does he beat craven? >> i don't think he had any choice. craven came off the bottom and slammed into him. >> look at krach in there. look at him fighting that steering wheel. >> it's a good thing the pontiac's got the kick out on the nose. or he wouldn't have won. >> look at how close this finish is. >> in there, wow. >> wow, we have had some amazing finishes through the years on nascar on fox. this is our 14th season. excited about kick off 2014 with the daytona 500. these are live pictures and hoping to get that track dry, and we have the jet dryers out. continuing to update the radar and watch the weather.

lead change in six of the last seven daytona 500s so with this race once we get back to run in here. what tells you that we'll have that kind of finish here? >> locked in those ten fantastic finishes. think about it like this. some of the same players are in this race. jeff gordon, tony stewart, jimmie johnson, carl edwards. they haven't lost anything. no matter what track we go to and especially here at daytona, this is the kind of determination and the kind of excitement and probably the kind of finish we're expecting to get. >> just think what we've seen so far down here. the unlimited bud shootout. >> three-wide finish. >> everything has been exactly like you would hope for, and i know darryl and larry and mike are about out of breath over the ten finishes. get ready, boys, the same thing tonight. >> that's why they are resting up. we hope for some drama. the drama with clint bowyer, did it this week in speed week and saw it in the daytona 500, somehow walking away. clint bowyer is standing by with our matt yocum. >> well, clint bowyer, a little bit tan and definitely rested

and ready to go back to resting. in the 30s on the grid. when you're breaking down so far the 30-plus laps we've been able to run, where do you feel like you are with your car, do you like what you're seeing so far? >> kind of riding around. >> just riding around? >> the weather was kind of a bummer for everybody, but we've all been kind of having fun making the most of it, laughing my butt off in the motor home here, you know. the fans on twitter interacting with everybody, their questions and stuff. you know, the coolest thing about this rain is we were able to run two daytona 500 in one day. jimmie won the first one apparently, and, you know, i think i'm going to win the next one, so it should be good. >> what type of fun were you on twitter doing, because i remember last fall, i woke up about 7:00, and your time line had america in hystericics with your random thoughts about the bonfire. >> the pr department shut me down with those. >> i had to make my fire

smaller. used a candle today. we've been having fun. everybody pitching in. i just posted a picture. got the short end of the stick with the job title that idea today after the rain delay. working in the coach slot. got to take care of everybody, an everybody has to pull their own weight. >> here in the coach lot. come here, lincoln, come on. >> he's out. he apparently knows >> you your nephew lincoln, every day is his birthday. by the way, he'll get you a huge present coming up for your birthday, any idea what you want? what do you think you should get him? >> he eat want something fast, something with wheels, and an engine. that's all he cares about. all right. well, more fun back in the motor home lot. back to you, chris. >> for clint, his ninth daytona 5 up. he's finished fourth two times. the rain coverage here at the daytona 500 brought to you by the movie "noah," and in the new movie "noah" russell crowe plays bible can a noah who suffers

visions of heavy rains and takes a measure necessary to protect his family from a coming flood. you'll see the movie "noah" in theaters everywhere march 28th. steve burns is standing by with austin dylan. >> thanks very much, chris. i'm curious, when the race started you dropped back a little bit, and i heard your spotter say just kind of experiment a little bit, get settled in. did you feel like you got comfortable? >> i did. you know, we've had good time, trying to buy our time. got a little hairy after the last caution and once everybody gets out of their motor homes and everybody gets out and dry, it will get hopefully settled down. a good race so far. want to keep it up there. >> austin, this race we would have end it had about 4:30, 5:00. during the day if we get back going it's going to be a lot cooler. the track will be different because the rain would have regard a lot of the stuff off the track.

what are your thoughts about changing conditions and going back racing tonight? >> well, i think it will help handling the car. don't have to worry about it much. the car handling well. for me i'm ready to get back out there. the car held well in the daylight. i don't know if it will change much from cooling down. i don't think it will. we may be able to free up. a lot tighter going into the race and then just having a good time. hanging out, got my sweatpants out. waiting for it to go back green. >> got your blinders senator. >> got my blinders on, too. >> good luck. thanks, austin. >> last time the 3 was on the pole dale earn hard in 1986, of course winning in 1998. our rain delay coverage sponsored by the new movie "noah," in theaters everywhere. a good sign the drivers are out. let's hope the rain stops. more in a moment.

a good time to tell you about fox sports support. proud to team up with the boys and girls clubs of america. boys and girls clubs help young people to reach their full potential as productive caring and responsible citizens through programs that promote character and leadership, education, healthy lifestyle and a lot more. we're wearing these pins which are the symbol for that, and for more information and to help out visit vgca.org. >> good calls, good calls. >> yeah. we did have some information on martin truex jr., the only driver out of the race as we check the radar, went out 54 hours ago. as you can see the weather is clearing off that rain to the west, out to sea. >> see a window, mike. >> that's exactly why the race car drivers are coming out of their buses. they know that's coming as well,

and they are getting fired up and ready to go racing. >> already ahead of them because you're already in your fire suit. you never left it. >> i've had it on a week. i don't need to race very often. >> like his pajamas, gets so excited about the daytona 500, he claims in that. >> talking about martin truex jr. the engine went on the car, already the backup car. get the official information. explain to us a bolt to the oil pump is what caused. >> martin truex jr. said himself, i notice i lost oil pressure with the old pump drive belt came off. what that meant was they thought the bolts themselves either broke or loosened up, when that happened the belt itself jumped off, michael, and that pretty much ended his day. bad day for martin but good news for who? >> a lot of other drives, teams with the earn hard/childress engines under the hood, fanned there was a bearing problem, the other teams may have been worried, but an oil pump, belt pump bolt coming loose gives them room to breathe. they know that won'tylated to

all the engines. >> we'll keep a close watch. last year it was matt against yet who led most laps and he had an engine failure. kyle busch is the leader but his brother has led the most laps and standing by, the newest member of stuart hass racing. >> yes, we found a silver lining to this rain delay. it's called studying. what have you been doing in your bus. >> went back and watched the tape. everybody is amped up, it's the 500. we got to lead laps early with the chef, and then on the restart it was a matter of going to play it cool or was he going to find a hole and shoot for the lead, and he found a hole and shot for the lead and i realized i left too big of a gap back in so it's just cool to kind of get that moment behind you on, all right, and now we're in race moved. the butterflies and the excitement level of the 500 is now under way, and let's just settle in, and so, you know, it was need for gene hass to put

this team together and then for us to lead laps here at the daytona 500 right away. it was a big moment for our team and for daniel to settle in and just feel the excitement of leading laps. that's what the 41 team needs to do this year. >> studying is the serious thing you were doing. you guys also having fun on twitter with #outlaw. what are you folks doing. >> i heard mike say self-proclaimed. hard to understand that because there was a tv show on speed that a new york city producer said you're like an outlaw, doing it your own way, doing it your best, with your own style and you may have rough style. let's get twitter fans get involved and send in pictures and moment of them doing it their way. we loved, it one of john wayne calling out chuck norris as a wussy and that's a winner right there. you can go and entertain yourself for so long with twitter. i feel bad for all the fans that tuned n.millions of people watching the daytona 500, and we

have weather. the most exciting thing is the radar. i think we'll get this thing back under way tonight and stay pumped up with monster and stay on top of of things, and we eel get our chevy back out front. >> a god thing for all the fans. sticking with you, still on air, and we'll keep you here and hopefully like you set get this thing going. >> and in his 14th 500, three times kurt busch has finished second. looking for the first. 78 races since the last win with his new team, stuart hass racing, interesting to hear him how to look at things and correct things. >> yeah. he got an opportunity there, michael, kind of unusual being able to stop the race and look at what you did wrong and kind of put it behind you, but during the course of the race did you ever get a mistake that makes you made? normally we can't stop the race to let you figure what you did wrong. >> sometimes you assume what others will do, and that's what used to frustrate me the most when i saw a guy and thought i knew what he was going to do and he took me by surprise. he thought denny hamlin would