Pothole makes for bizarre day at Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, FL The race was stopped twice and delayed for two hours, 28 minutes because of a pesky pothole that nearly derailed the race. NASCAR struggled to patch the hole, and McMurray finally hit the checkered flag some six hours, 10 minutes after it started.

Earnhardt drove from 10th to second over the final two laps, but was unable to chase down McMurray, who won his fourth career Sprint Cup race.

It was NASCAR's second attempt at a "green-white-checker" finish, an overtime-like provision intended to make it less likely that races will end under caution. The rule was tweaked this week to allow for up to three attempts at a green-flag finish

Greg Biffle ran third, followed by Clint Bowyer and Davie Reutimann.