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Matt Kenseth wins Sprint Unlimited at Daytona

Matt Kenseth celebrates in Victory Lane with his crew after he pulled away on a restart with four laps remaining to claim the NASCAR Sprint Unlimited auto race at Daytona International Speedway. (Associated Press)
Jenna Fryer Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Matt Kenseth’s latest victory came in an exhibition race and with only 12 cars running at the end.

The circumstances didn’t matter to Kenseth, who made his first trip to victory lane in 17 months on Saturday night.

Kenseth, coming off a winless 2014 season, has opened the new year with a long-awaited win. He claimed Saturday night’s exhibition Sprint Unlimited, which was a crash-filled kickoff to the NASCAR season for the second consecutive year.

“It’s always fun to win at Daytona for sure, it’s fun to win anywhere,” Kenseth said. “There’s nothing like winning. That’s why we come out and do this every week. Getting a win was the best part for us.”

Only 12 of the 25 cars in the field were running at the end of the race, which was stopped twice by red flags for multi-car accidents. There were only eight cars running at the end of the 2014 race.

Kenseth, in his third season with Joe Gibbs Racing, had one of the strongest cars in the field and he pulled away on a restart with four laps remaining to claim the win.

Now he’s hoping it’s a sign that his Toyota will be a contender in the Feb. 22 season-opening Daytona 500.

“It’s going to be a good week,” Kenseth said. “We’ve got a lot of racing left to do. But all our cars have speed, which is the first thing you’re going to look for.”

Martin Truex Jr., who led just one lap all of last season, led 30 laps but finished second.

“What a hot rod we had. After the last year and a half I’ve had, I really needed that,” Truex said.

Carl Edwards, in his debut race for Gibbs, was third as JGR Toyotas went first and third in the race. It marked the second year JGR has won the Speedweeks opener; Denny Hamlin went to victory lane last season.

“I’m glad Matt won that race, but, man, I could taste it there,” said Edwards, who left Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the season. “That was a good day.”

Casey Mears was fourth and followed by Kyle Larson, Logano, and Jeff Gordon, who raced in his final Speedweeks opener. Gordon is retiring from full-time racing at the end of this season and has said this year will be his final Daytona 500.