DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. _ Kurt Busch, taking advantage of fuel issues by his closest competitors, won Sunday's NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
Pole-winner and race-leader Chase Elliott appeared to have the race under control until he ran out of gas on Lap 197 of the 200-lap race. Kyle Larson then took over the lead, but he ran out of fuel on the final lap.
That allowed Busch to take the lead and he edged Ford-driving Ryan Blaney, who started 36th.
The victory for Busch's Stewart-Haas Racing comes after the company switched in the offseason from Chevrolet to Ford.
AJ Allmendinger finished third, with Aric Almirola and Paul Menard rounding out the top five.
The race was marred by several wrecks, including one that took out Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch. Another wreck involved 17 cars.
Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick won the first two stages of the race under the new rules system put in place by NASCAR this season.
It was the 29th career victory for Kurt Busch, who won the 2004 Cup championship.