Tony Stewart comes from 42nd to win at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The end of Daytona International Speedway's summertime spectacular boiled down to a battle between the Daytona 500 winner, Matt Kenseth, and the winner of three previous Coke Zero 400s, reigning Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart.

Kenseth had Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle nearby and willing to cooperate. Stewart had the affiliated Chevy of Hendrick Motorsports' Kasey Kahne in tow.

Stewart won first by executing a lovely move between turns three and four on the final lap and then by default when most of the pack behind him crashed spectacularly coming off turn four.

Kenseth thus lost a chance to become the first driver to sweep a season's Daytona races since Bobby Allison in 1982. Stewart, winner of four July races, has never won the Daytona 500.

Jeff Burton finished second and Kenseth third.

Little changed in the early stages. For most of the first 30 laps, Kenseth led, followed by Biffle. Surprisingly, Bill Elliott, whose most recent Daytona Beach victory was in 1991, settled in at third after qualifying seventh. The habitual occupant of fourth was the third Roush Ford of Carl Edwards.

The order was rearranged by pit stops, not racing, and it wasn't surprising that Elliott, making only his second start of the season at age 56, returned to the track in 15th place after all had pitted for the first time shortly after the 40th lap.

Next to advance was another part-timer with an excellent restrictor-plate resume, Michael Waltrip, whose Toyota moved into fourth place. The Roush trio returned to the front on lap 48, with Biffle leading Kenseth and Edwards lagging just a bit. Elliott, reporting a bit of concern with overheating, dropped to 20th by lap 59 and Edwards became a casualty of the draft as he lost contact with his teammates.

Six starters exited early. Thirty cars ran within a quarter mile of each other. Dropping back a safe distance - a mile, perhaps - apparently to avoid potential crashes were the cars of Brad Keselowski, David Ragan and Tony Stewart, the latter having started 42nd after being penalized after qualifying. As the halfway point neared, Kenseth and Biffle had led all but a handful of laps. Martin Truex Jr. led for a brief time during the pit cycle.

The second pit cycle commenced on lap 79 when the Richard Childress Chevrolets of Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard and Jeff Burton pitted. That presaged the first caution flag by a lap. Sam Hornish Jr., substituting for the suspended A.J. Allmendinger, skidded down most of the back straight after a tire exploded in his Dodge.

Keselowski and Stewart were prime beneficiaries of Hornish's misfortune. They had fallen about a half lap behind. Not so fortunate were Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne, whose cars collided on pit road. Jeff Gordon's Chevy and Brad Keselowski's Dodge both also received light damage in the melee, which occurred on lap 82.

After the caution period, Kenseth regained the lead, trailed by Gordon, Kyle Busch and Biffle. Kenseth and Biffle had combined to lead 74 of the first 80 laps.

The first crash occurred on lap 91, spurred by a move by Kurt Busch that at the very least bordered on the reckless. His Chevy bumped the cars of Aric Almirola and Trevor Bayne. Busch emerged mostly unscathed, but several cars, among them those driven by Denny Hamlin, Juan Montoya, Bobby Labonte and Elliott, spun and crunched together in the wake.

Surprising no one, the action slowly heated up once past the halfway point.

Meanwhile, on the 102nd lap, Stewart, who started in 42nd place, reached the top 10 for the first time.

As the laps wound down, a pattern developed: roughly five cars in line at the front, followed by a gaggle of others lined up in twos and occasional threes. Inevitably, the action at the front grew more frantic with the end in sight.

On lap 125, a major melee occurred off turn four that sent the cars of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Elliott, Regan Smith, Michael Waltrip and others spinning through the tri-oval grass. Johnson was waving his hand to alert those behind him that he wanted to enter the pits, but onrushing cars enveloped his Chevy.

Two who had been "riding around" earlier, Stewart and Keselowski, restarted near the front. Stewart led lap 131, followed by Hamlin, whose Toyota had been damaged in an earlier crash.

The multi-car draft shed Keselowski like a flea from a spaniel's coat on lap 145, Miraculously, Keselowski's Dodge pinwheeled down half the back straight without collecting any other cars. The sheet metal on the right-rear of the No. 2 was stripped away.

Kenseth and Biffle roared back to the front on the 152nd lap, about a half-lap before another massive accident. Among the casualties: Denny Hamlin, Marcos Ambrose, Dave Blaney, Trevor Bayne, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray, Juan Pablo Montoya, Casey Mears, Kyle Busch and Paul Menard.