<div><p><p>DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Soap operas end all the time, but they never really end. </p> <p>That's a problem for folks who prefer tidy climaxes. It's no problem for NASCAR, which sells soap, speed and interpersonal conflict in several ticket packages. </p> <p>Sunday night, in deference to prospects for a depressingly long rain delay, NASCAR sold the incomplete package. The plan probably worked because Kyle Busch screamed about Dale Earnhardt Jr., who cried foul and refused to accept blame for inadvertently wrecking the strongest car. </p> <p>When the skies opened up shortly after dark and radar looked ominous, NASCAR waited only 20 minutes before declaring leader Matt Kenseth the winner of the Daytona 500, the sport's premier race. </p> <p>It was actually the Daytona 380, but who's counting? </p> <p>Certainly not Kenseth, a former series champion. Certainly not owner Jack Roush, whose teams never delivered the furniture-sized trophy during his first 21 seasons. Evidently not runnerup Kevin Harvick, the Richard Childress driver who won two years ago and passed on his chance to question the fast call. </p> <p>"I learned a long time ago that I just kind of do my own thing and the rest of it is up to them," Harvick said. "Obviously I know how exciting it is to be in Victory Lane, but it's easy to second-guess something until you have to sit up there and make those decisions." </p> <p>Harvick conceded that his discretion hinged largely on exceeding expectations. He started 32nd and finished second with a smooth car that lacked enough raw speed. </p> <p>Maybe Busch had already exhausted the 380-mile quota of second-guessing anyway. He led 88 of the first 123 laps on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, but he couldn't avoid the collateral damage caused by Earnhardt's irrational collision with Brian Vickers. </p> <p>Earnhardt thrilled his patiently loyal fans on the 53rd lap, passing Busch for a lead that lasted precisely one lap. That was the highlight, slightly spoiled by the time he overshot his pit stall and really spoiled by the time he parked a right-side tire on the pit stall line and was penalized a lap. </p> <p>He blamed himself for missing the stall, after blaming a confusing oversupply of pink signs identifying each driver's pit. The other error? </p> <p>"We had a pit stop where our right front tire - I was told - was only an inch on the line, and I got penalized a lap for that," Earnhardt said. "I don't feel like that's a fair trade, but maybe it's time we reevaluate that rule." </p> <p>Down a lap, Earnhardt pushed himself to recover lost ground. He dropped low, trying to pass Vickers' lapped car. Vickers blocked Earnhardt aggressively, forcing Earnhardt below the double yellow line. </p> <p>Earnhardt, required to get back above the line before passing, lunged to the right and hit Vickers' rear. Vickers veered into other cars. Before the chain reactions ended, 10 drivers were involved, including Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and, most notably, Busch. The other stars carried on. Busch was done, finishing ahead of only two drivers. </p> <p>"It's unfortunate that a guy that's messed up his whole day on pit road and screwed up has to make our day worse," Busch said. "It wasn't our problem that he was a lap down and fighting with another lapped car. I don't even know what they were fighting for, because the outside lane was coming. Those cars should have just sat there and watched and gotten back in line when they could." </p> <p>When someone asked Busch how big a mistake Earnhardt had made, he replied: "It looked pretty big to me. It cost the winning car the chance to win the race." </p> <p>Vickers insisted that he merely blocked Earnhardt and that Earnhardt's retaliation deserved an aggressive-driving penalty like the one NASCAR levied against Jason Leffler in the Nationwide Series race Saturday. </p> <p>"I guess they're not going to penalize him for it," Vickers said. "It's kind of sad. To wreck somebody intentionally like that in front of the entire field is really kind of dangerous. That's my biggest problem with it, but apparently he wanted a caution pretty bad." </p> <p>Earnhardt, who wound up 27th, sharply disputed Vickers' charges. "It was accidental," Earnhardt said. "I didn't want to wreck the field. I mean, he drove me down almost into the grass. I was trying to get back up on the race track. I didn't have much control over my car after that." </p> <p>He called Vickers reckless. He called the notion that NASCAR could have penalized him crazy. </p> <p>When NASCAR added up the emotional plotlines, crowd favorite Earnhardt and crowd villain Busch had stirred the passionate pot, bit player Vickers had elevated his profile and perennial champ Johnson had been handicapped with a 31st-place beginning to the long season. </p> <p>It rained on the Daytona 500 Sunday night, which dampened competitive spirits but revealed the eternal law of the stock-car soap opera. More rain sometimes just means more lather. </p> <p>Lenox Rawlings can be reached at lrawlings@wsjournal.com. </p></p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=42831665&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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