Rain Dominates Daytona 500, Emerges as Early Championship Threat

Proving that momentum CAN carry over an offseason, last year's Chase dominator, Drizzle Rain, cruised to an easy win at the 2012 Daytona 500.

"This was a date we had circled on our calendars all off-season long", a triumphant Rain explained in Victory Lane. "We knew that we'd let the 2011 Championship slip out of our hands, so we wanted to start strong. We did it, man, we did it!"

Despite hopes that several drivers could break Rain's stranglehold on the lead, few mounted anything resembling a competition in the late stages of the race. Shootout winner Kyle Busch said that, "…while we thought we could have a shot, Rain just wouldn't let up. Its probably the most unrelenting performance I've seen since they dominated Atlanta last year."

After emerging from the car, Rain thanked "…team owner Mother Nature, sponsors Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, Deer Park, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Arrowhead, and all the clouds back at the shop."

Surprising, despite Rain's complete and total domination of the race, it still got less TV time than Danica Patrick.