Denny Hamlin wins the 2016 Daytona 500: Edges Martin Truex Jr. in closest finish in race history

Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500 on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway after taking the lead on the final turn and holding off Martin Truex Jr. in the closest finish in race history. The margin of victory was one-hundredth of a second. Kyle Busch finished third.

Matt Kenseth, a teammate of Hamlin’s at Joe Gibbs Racing, had been leading heading into the final turn, but hit the wall after getting loose when moving up the track to block Hamlin. He finished 14th. Holding the inside line, Truex was almost able to take advantage of the situation but Hamlin nipped him at the checkered flag.

Hamlin led 95 of 200 laps for the day. Kenseth led 40 laps.

Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five, with defending Daytona 500 champion Joey Logano finishing sixth.

Rookie Chase Elliott started on the pole and led the first three laps before Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed him. The 20-year-old quickly fell back and was running in the middle of a pack on Lap 19 when he spun off Turn 4 and through the infield grass with the car’s nose digging into the sod and severely damaging the No. 24 car.

Following repairs, Elliott returned to finish 37th.

Another accident saw Matt DiBenedetto and Chris Buescher collide in Turn 2 when DiBenedetto got loose and clipped Buescher. Both then proceeded to hit the outside wall hard before sliding down the track. Neither driver was injured.

“I have no excuse,” DiBenedetto said. “I went in there with a head of steam and got sideways.”

Earnhardt entered as a the favorite to win, but finished 36th after spinning and crashing into the inside Turn 4 wall.