Daytona 500 Results: Matt Kenseth Wins Bizarre Great American Race

Let it never be said that the 2012 Daytona 500 was a predictable event.

It was supposed to run on Sunday afternoon, was delayed until Monday afternoon, was delayed again until Monday night and ultimately wrapped up in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

It was at that point that Matt Kenseth crossed the finish line and earned himself a second victory at the Great American Race. He is the ninth driver in history to win multiple Daytona 500s.

It was clear early on that the 2012 version of the Daytona 500 was going to be anybody's race. There were concerns in the weeks and days leading up to the race that there were going to be more wrecks than usual, and we ended up getting one in the opening minutes of the race.

That wreck came in the second lap, ending Jimmie Johnson's night. It also involved defending Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne, former Sprint Cup champion Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick.

That wreck proved to be a sign of things to come. The 500 was marred by numerous cautions, and things got particularly crazy with just 40 laps left to go in the race.

Under caution, Juan Pablo Montoya's career appeared to suffer a mechanical problem as he was racing past two safety trucks. He spun out of control and crashed into the back of one of them, resulting in a explosion and a jet fuel fire.

Luckily, nobody was hurt as both Montoya and the safety truck driver were no worse for wear after the crash.

What was worse for wear was the track. A delay of over two hours was needed to clear the wreckage and repair the track.

Dave Blaney was leading at the time, and he had to be hoping that the race would be called right then and there, resulting in his very first Sprint Cup win.

That would have been a remarkable story, but it was not to be. The race started back up again, and Blaney quickly lost the lead.

The craziness wasn't over, though. There was another significant wreck and a caution with fewer than 15 laps to go, and the race went into its 10th and final caution with just four laps left to go.

Kenseth was in the lead at that point, and the race went into a green-white-checker finish. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. made a late push for his first win in 129 starts, but he wasn't able to pass Kenseth before he crossed the finish line and saw the checkered flag wave in his honor.

So there he was, celebrating a Daytona 500 win with a few donuts for the second time in four years.

Make no mistake about it: Kenseth won the strangest Great American Race ever run. But as far as he's concerned, "a win is a win is a win."