Mother Nature finally took its hold, ending the 51st running of the Daytona 500 forty-eight laps short of its finish. When the rain started falling Roush Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth sat at the head of the field, giving him his first Daytona 500 victory.

"It's gonna be really wet out here because I'm crying like a baby," Kenseth said as he climbed from his car. "I've just got to thank my team and thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity first of all. I've had a lot of great opportunities in my life - from my family getting me in racing and really DeWalt, Ford, Carhartt, USG Sheetrock, R&L Carriers, all the sponsors that we have that have stuck by us and made this happen in an up and down economy. Man, I don't know. Winning the Daytona 500 is definitely a dream moment. It's just an unbelievable feeling."

When the race restarted on Lap 142, Kenseth found himself surrounded by three Richard Petty Motorsports team cars. Elliott Sadler had the lead, while Reed Sorenson and AJ Allmendinger lined up behind Kenseth's No. 17 Ford. Taking the green flag, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer made a charge past Sorenson as Kenseth tucked up behind Sadler's back bumper. Making his move going into Turn 1 on Lap 145, Kenseth dove under Sadler's No. 19 for the lead.

"I was a little nervous," Kenseth explained, "because it was Elliott and then Reed and Allmendinger and all the teammates lined up there and I was able to get outside Elliott a little bit, and our car was honestly a fair amount quicker than his and I was able to get a run on him and get by him."

As soon as Kenseth drove to the front he came on the radio screaming, "Rain, rain, rain!" The very next lap, Aric Almirola bounced off another car and across the nose of Kasey Kahne bringing out the eighth caution of the day. Running around under caution, Kenseth continued to scream about rain on the race track. Fortunately for the 2003 Cup Series champion, he was not screaming wolf as the skies finally opened up and drenched the track.

NASCAR red flagged the race and the cars were brought to pit road and covered as the rain continued to fall. Finally, NASCAR accepted they had lost the track and called the race on Lap 152, the first time since 2003 the Daytona 500 had been shortened due to rain. Kenseth climbed from his car and celebrated with his crew as the fireworks went off behind him.

Struggling for much of last year, Kenseth went winless for the first time since 2001. Breaking into victory lane once again, Kenseth did so in a big way. After working with crew chief Robbie Reiser for most of his career, last year Kenseth struggled to find the right connection with crew chief Chip Bolin in 2008. This year Drew Blickensderfer made the move from the Nationwide garage to the Cup Series to serve as crew chief for the No. 17 team, while Bolin moved to the role of team engineer. Winning Sunday's race was a pretty good way to kick off this new relationship.

"After last year, winning a race means a lot to me," Kenseth added. "I'm really proud of these guys. It's Drew's first race as a Cup crew chief, that's pretty cool, and Chip for sticking in here with us and really going through the deal and trying to make the team stronger - putting egos aside and making the team as strong as we can - and these guys have been fired up and working hard.  It's just unbelievable."

Kenseth and his No. 17 DEWALT team definitely did not take the easy route to their Daytona 500 victory. The team was forced to a back-up car after he got into the Turn 2 wall during Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150, forcing Kenseth to start at the rear of the field for Sunday's race. After pulling out the back-up the team went to work making their secondary car better than their first - work that obviously paid off.

"That's unbelievable," Kenseth said of being called the Daytona 500 champion. "I've just really got to thank my team first of all for all the work they did this week. I put them in a hole wrecking on Thursday and they did just a tremendous job and had a great pit stop when we really needed it. I mean, that was a killer pit stop and it gave us the track position to be in position to win this thing."

The win also marked the first Daytona 500 victory for car owner Jack Roush. One of the only races to elude the 'Cat in the Hat,' Roush was finally able to celebrate in victory lane with his veteran driver. This marks the second year in a row a team owner and driver combination won the Daytona 500 for the first time (last year it was Ryan Newman and Roger Penske who took the checkers for the first time).

Prior to Sunday night's victory, Kenseth's best finish in the 'Great American Race' was ninth in 2004.  In 2007 however, Kenseth pushed Kevin Harvick to the win as the No. 17 was wrecked behind him. Not typically seen as a restrictor-plate driver, Kenseth's average finish in the Daytona 500 was 24th.

"I think in the garage it will definitely be a popular win," Harvick, who was Sunday's runner-up pointed out. "I think Matt's obviously a pretty stand-up person and a great racecar driver, accomplished a lot in this sport. I think a lot of us can relate to Matt for kind of going out of the spotlight.

"I think he's one of those guys that he can win seven or eight races in a year and never receive any credit," Harvick went on to say. "He's a really good racecar driver. He's a champion, Daytona 500 champion. I think a lot of times some of those things are overlooked."

One of the more quiet drivers in the garage, like Harvick pointed out, Kenseth is never one to seek the spotlight. A known winner and a proven champion, it is fitting for the Cambridge, Wisconsin-native to give Jack Roush his first Harley J. Earl trophy.