Sunday night, Matt Kenseth took home the coveted Harley J. Earl trophy and the title of Daytona 500 champion after NASCAR called the race 48 laps from the finish thanks to a heavy rain shower that persisted through the evening.

No, NASCAR didn’t have a matter of darkness to contend with because Daytona International Speedway has lights. And I’m not faulting NASCAR for calling the race, either, because the rain here at the track didn’t let up for several hours.

I am, though, quite sympathetic for the fans that spent a good deal of money to sit in the grandstands at DIS and for the drivers who saw the scheduled 500-mile race shortened to a 380-mile affair that left entirely too many wondering “what if?”

But that’s the NASCAR of 2009 – a well-oiled, money-hungry machine that cares more about the bottom line than seeing their fans get a bang for their buck or giving their drivers a legitimate shot to win NASCAR’s biggest event.

However, I should note clearly that Matt Kenseth didn’t win an illegitimate race and that he is a deserving Daytona 500 champion. When the race-ending rain neared the speedway, Kenseth took charge and passed Elliott Sadler on what ended up being the race’s final green flag lap.

It was a bold move, and he couldn’t have timed it any more perfectly.

NASCAR’s timing – particularly how they set the race’s official start time – is the problem here.

Sunday’s race didn’t start until 3:40 p.m. local time at Daytona, some nearly three and a half hours later than this race started in 2000. Traditionally, this race has always taken just over three hours to complete, and Sunday night NASCAR was looking at just over an hour of competition left.

One more hour and fans would have seen a complete Daytona 500. One more hour and drivers like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Mark Martin – all of whom had great cars Sunday – could’ve come back to front to make the race for the lead one for the ages.

One more hour, and I wouldn’t be sitting in the press box wondering “what if?” myself about the possible outcomes of a full race.

Truly, there’s no one else to blame except NASCAR because of their willingness to succumb to the demands of network television. When the sanctioning body agreed to its latest television contracts – worth a whopping $4.48 billion – the races across the schedule have been pushed further and further back into the afternoon.

Sure, it’s great to see races finish under the lights and I understand that those on the West Coast are more apt to tune in to a later race, but are gambles for TV viewers worth the risk of seeing a shortened race?

Is that fair for the drivers? And what about the fans who truly are the lifeblood of the sport?

The opening was there Sunday afternoon for NASCAR to get its biggest event to completion and it’s sure a shame that the powers that be couldn’t do more to make that happen.

Jeff Gordon – Coming off 2008 where he failed to earn a victory, Gordon is motivated to find victory lane. He got there once already this week by winning his Gatorade Duel qualifying race, but wants to get there for real. His car has been plenty strong all week and Saturday, the team finished practice with 45 minutes to go in the session.

Tony Stewart – Wouldn’t the story of using a third car in a week make a great one for a 500 champion? It’d be the ultimate way to start a season as a car owner.

Kyle Busch – Also won his qualifying race this week, and won the last time out at Daytona during the Coke Zero 400 in July. He’s got to be a favorite — especially after failing to win two races in-a-row this week after running second at the white flag.

Jimmie Johnson – He’s been quiet all week and nobody seems to remember Johnson is a former 500 winner and the three-time defending series champion. Why, exactly, isn’t he a favorite?

Jamie McMurray – Consistently, McMurray has been the best of the Roush Fenway Racing group this week during practice and he’s coming off a second-place finish in the Budweiser Shootout. He’s a former winner at Daytona and 2009 is a do-it-or-lose-it year for his seat at the Ford operation.

The Columbus, Ind.-driver scored his fourth win in 9 Nationwide Series starts at Daytona International Speedway after holding off a charging Kyle Busch during a valiant last-lap charge.

The win, however, didn’t make his thoughts towards NASCAR’s sole tire supplier any better.

Busch and Stewart ran nose-to-tail for many for the final laps and on the last one, Busch attempted to push Stewart out of the way as the field entered turn 2. Amazingly, Stewart kept control with the battering ram of Busch placed squarely in his No. 80 Chevrolet’s rear bumper and sneaked out a win.

At the line, Carl Edwards grabbed second, Clint Bowyer third and Busch wound up 4th.

During the final practice for Sunday’s Daytona 500, Stewart’s teammate Ryan Newman lost a right rear tire and crashed in turn 2. The crash collected Stewart, and thanks to the damage that was deemed unfixable for such an aerodynamic track, both drivers went to backup cars for Sunday’s race.

As a result, they will both start at the end of the field for Sunday’s race, though that wasn’t the primary focal point of Stewart’s anger.

Instead, Stewart lit into Goodyear about their tires much like he did following the 2008 Sprint Cup race in Atlanta. He felt that the construction and design of the tire was not suitable for NASCAR, but he also acknowledged nothing will ever change about it because Goodyear is NASCAR’s exclusive tire supplier.

Later, however, Stewart’s remarks were somewhat shot down by Goodyear’s chief of worldwide racing Stu Grant. Grant, during a press conference after the wreck, said that all the evidence on the shredded tire pointed to tire failure due to Newman running over a foreign object on the track. Nothing, Grant said, about the remaining rubber idicated the tire simply wore too fast and exploded.

Regardless, Stewart and Newman are in backup cars for the 500 and have provided a headlining story heading into tomorrow’s race that had been previously lacking.

Until Friday, that is.

Todd Bodine scored his second-straight victory in the season-opener Friday night for the third-tier of NASCAR’s top three national touring divisions after holding off a last lap charge from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Busch.

Busch, driving the No. 51 Toyota, trailed Bodine for the final 6 laps of green flag racing and tried to set him up for a pass going into turn 3 on the race’s final lap. Busch charged into Bodine’s rear bumper, hoping to upset the No. 30 Toyota Bodine was leading with. However, the move backfired as Bodine shot forward in the draft while Busch lost momentum while trying to avoid spinning out.

By the time the trucks neared the finish line, Busch ran out of time to make a comeback.

Two events stood out in the 100-lap race ahead of Sunday’s Daytona 500 at the track. First, a 9-truck melee took out several of the race’s top contenders on lap 49 after Bodine got in the rear of rookie James Buescher while racing through the track’s frontstretch tri-oval.

Later, driver Brent Raymer got loose off of Turn 2 on lap 69, overcorrected, and slammed nearly head-on into the outside wall. His car ricocheted down the track out of control and thanks to a mashed up suspension, it made another hard right and slammed the outside wall again. Raymer was treated and released from the track’s infield hospital after the wreck that prompted a few drivers to call for additional SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers to be placed along the length of the straightaway.

Currently, only the track’s corners and several spots in the infield have the walls.

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — The Daytona International Speedway is known for its impressive banked corners, but where did all that fill dirt come from to build those harnesses of speed?

Answer: Lake Lloyd — a 6 acre body of water located along the backstretch in the infield of DIS that Friday, doubled as a fishing tournament venue.

In its third year, the Miccosukee Resort & Gaming Hot Rods & Reels NASCAR Drivers Charity Fishing Tournament (say that three times fast) launched Friday morning with several drivers attending and taking part. Among the wheelmen on hand were Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Regan Smith, David Ragan & more.

Edwards got off to a particularly hot start by landing three largemouth bass on his boat within the first 15 minutes of the tournament. Obligations in the media center prevented me from learning who actually won in the post-tournament weigh in.

The real winners, though, were the charities that the tournament benefited. The Darrell Gwynn Foundation and the Speediatrics pediatric hospital in Daytona Beach were the two beneficiaries of the event.

Two other Indiana natives, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart, had their races end at the opposite end of the spectrum. Stewart swapped the lead with Gordon twice in the closing laps in dramatic fashion while racing for the first time in his No. 14 self-owned car. That first result? 2nd-place.

Newman, on the other hand, got tangled up in a wicked crash along the backstretch after getting bumped by David Reutimann. The nudge turned Newman’s No. 39 a quick right and nearly head-on into the backstetch wall. After getting out, Newman made sure Reutimann (whom we later declared as a guy with “a race car faster than he is”) knew his anger by raising his arms at the No. 00 while it drove by the crashed Chevrolet under caution.

Likely the biggest winners of Thursday, though, weren’t the winning drivers. Instead, A.J. Allmendinger, Jeremy Mayfield, Scott Riggs and Regan Smith managed to score the two transfer spots for non-qualified drivers and officially qualify for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Allmendinger, who’s faced quite the ride since being booted from Red Bull Racing in 2008, had to put on his sunglasses on pit road to cover the tears in his eyes.

Tomorrow, come back and see us because I’ll have some photos up as well as a little bit of discussion about the amazing fishing and other aquatic sports at Daytona International Speedway.

The format for today is simple: two races, 60 laps, and the finishing positions set the grid for Sunday’s race.

The races will be the highlight of the day, which is certainly a good thing after a morning discussion involving FOX Sports’ crew about an animated gopher and his future merchandise got a little interesting in the media room. Simply, FOX is trying to make some unabashed cash off the sales of some t-shirts and the journalists in the room wondered if that blurred the line of journalism ethics for FOX’s crew.

In other words, let’s hope today’s races provide some excitement as expected. See you after the race.

Biggest lesson of the day, so far? Always get an extra row seat on any airplane you fly on. The leg room is stupendous.

As for the NASCAR world, I’ll be on-location for the first time Thursday morning prior to the Gatorade Duels. The Duels are two 150-mile qualifying races that will set the official starting order of Sunday’s race. If you’re looking to catch them in Bloomington, they’ll be on SPEED Channel starting at 2:00 p.m. Thursday.

Today at Daytona, the weather looks a whole lot better and whole lot less windy than the conditions back in the Hoosier state. For the first time since Sunday’s time trials, the Sprint Cup teams hit the track for some practice in full race mode. The first session, according to reports from Jayski, say Richard Petty Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne lead the way with a lap of 190.994 mph. Kurt Busch, Sam Hornish Jr., Casey Mears and Michael Waltrip rounded out the Top-5.

18-year-old Sprint Cup rookie Joey Logano — he’s trying to become the youngest driver to ever start NASCAR’s biggest event — got a hold of the wall with the right side of his car while Stewart-Haas Racing’s and Indiana native Ryan Newman appeared to have lost an engine.

The second practice of the day started at 2:00 p.m. and was scheduled for 50 minutes. Both practices were the first chances drivers had to test out their cars in drafting mode, leading to massive packs of cars that have the potential for a major crash.

I’ll be arriving at the track on Thursday morning in Daytona Beach, Fla., to cover the Sprint Cup Series’ Gatorade Duels qualifying races and will remain trackside through the 51st running of “The Great American Race.”

Look for a few updates each day regarding trackside activities, a video or two and a few photos from my time at Daytona. We’ll also plan to have a race preview column and a post-race column that will appear here as well as within the paper confines of the Indiana Daily Student.

I hope you’ll enjoy this as the IDS takes you inside the high banks of Daytona. See you at the track.