DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Through rain and wrecks, on Daytonas longest day, this was a drought Dale Earnhardt Jr. was determined to end. NASCARs most popular driver won the Daytona 500 on Sunday night for the second time — a decade after his first victory — to snap a 55-race losing streak dating to 2012. The victory ended a streak of futility at Daytona International Speedway, where he finished second in three of the previous four 500s. "Winning this race is the greatest feeling that you could feel in this sport besides accepting the trophy for the championship," said Earnhardt, who climbed from his car in Victory Lane and hugged every member of his Hendrick Motorsports crew. "I didnt know if Id ever get the chance to feel it again and it feels just as good." As he crossed the finish line in his No. 88 Chevrolet, the few who withstood a rain delay of 6 hours, 22 minutes screaming their support, Earnhardt euphorically radioed his crew, saying: "This is better than the first one!" He was met by Rick Hendrick after his victory lap, and the team owner climbed into the drivers window for a ride to Victory Lane. "The world is right right now — Dale Junior just won the Daytona 500," teammate Jeff Gordon said. "Thats a sign its going to be a great season." Rain stopped the race about 45 minutes after it began for a delay of more than six hours. When it resumed, Earnhardt dominated at the track where his father was killed in an accident on the last lap of the 2001 race. He led six times for a race-high 54 laps — all after the rain delay — and seemed to have it under control until things got chaotic near the end. There were 42 lead changes and four multi-car accidents as the field closed in on the checkered flag. An accident with seven laps to go triggered by pole-sitter Austin Dillon, driving the No. 3 — Earnhardts fathers number making its return to the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2001 — set up a final two-lap shootout to the finish. Earnhardt got a great jump past Brad Keselowski on the restart, and had Gordon behind him protecting his bumper. But Denny Hamlin came charging through the field and Earnhardt suddenly had a challenger with one lap to go. Then an accident farther back involving former winners Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray brought out the caution and the win belonged to Earnhardt. "We could fight off battle after battle. We got a little help at the end there from Jeff to get away on the restart," Earnhardt said. "This is amazing. I cant believe this is happening. I never take this for granted, man because it doesnt happen twice, let alone once." Hamlin was second in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, followed by Keselowski in a Team Penske Ford. Hendrick took fourth and fifth with Gordon and last years race winner, Jimmie Johnson, in what quickly became a company-wide celebration. "Hes been knocking on the door of the 500 for a lot of years. He got it done tonight — did an awesome job," said Johnson, who beat Earnhardt to the finish line a year ago. The win means Hendrick already has one of his four drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Under the new win-and-get-in format announced last month, Earnhardt is now eligible to race for the title and can spend the next 25 races preparing for the post-season. "We might be in the Chase — I aint going to worry about that," Earnhardt said from Victory Lane. "Trust me, man, were going to have a blast this year." Rain wreaked havoc on the event for the third time in six years, and this years race was stopped after 38 laps as a strong storm blew into the area. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning in the area and advised people to take shelter, and fans fled from the grandstands. NASCAR rolled out the track drying system Air Titan for several failed attempts over the delay. It was the only on-track activity for more than six hours, but there was plenty of behind-the-scenes fun as drivers desperately tried to stay entertained. David Ragan made a pizza run in his firesuit, Hamlin played basketball, Clint Bowyer answered fans questions on Twitter and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.s crew practiced tornado drills. It hit absurd levels as Fox Sports tried to fill the air time with a replay of the 2013 race that hundreds of thousands did not understand wasnt a live broadcast. Social media exploded with congratulatory tweets for last years winner, Johnson, who posted on his account: "I hear I won the #Daytona500? Haha! I also have friends confused and texting congratulations to me." Fellow drivers had fun with the widespread error, too. "Wait a minute! Im confused, did @JimmieJohnson win or not?" Bowyer tweeted. Plenty of fans on Twitter were confused throughout the replay, tweeting along as if the race was live. Deadspin ran some of them under the headline, "Scores Of Idiots Dont Realize Fox Is Airing Last Years Daytona 500." Even NASCAR couldnt resist jokingly weighing in on the confusion. "Congrats @JimmieJohnson amazing," tweeted Steve ODonnell, NASCARs senior vice-president of racing operations. Piling onto the strange story line, Foxs rain-delayed coverage was sponsored by the movie "Noah," which opens March 28 and stars Russell Crowe as the title character who builds an arc to save creation from a massive flood. When the cars finally got back on track, Earnhardt took off. He had some challenges, particularly from the Roush Fenway Racing duo of Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, but he managed to break free every time it mattered. Bernard King Jersey . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., who trains out of San Diego, will fight bantamweight champion (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey on July 5 in the co-main event of UFC 175 in Las Vegas. Carmelo Anthony Jersey . Raonic, the No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., fired 11 aces and did not have a double-fault as he comfortably advanced to the third round at the Masters Series event. http://www.knickssale.com/kids-anthony-mason-knicks-jersey/. Algeria led 3-0 at halftime, but withstood a stronger South Korean second half performance to claim its first World Cup win since 1982 and move into second place in Group H with one match left to play. Defeat for South Korea means it must now beat already-qualified Belgium to stand a chance of progressing to the knockout stages. Courtney Lee Jersey . In a matter of days, he went from unwanted to wanted, from fired to hired, from discarded by the Philadelphia Eagles with reputation tarnished to rock star treatment and a new fat contract from the Washington Redskins. Allan Houston Jersey .Y. - The NFL has fined Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch $20,000 for making an obscene gesture during last Sundays NFC championship game, a person with knowledge of the fine told The Associated Press on Thursday.BARCELONA, Spain -- Villarreal used a quick goal and Ruben "Cani" Gracias playmaking to earn a hard-fought 2-1 win at home over Espanyol on Thursday, keeping the promoted side undefeated through six rounds in the Spanish league. Villarreal stayed in fourth place and two points behind third-place Real Madrid. Leader Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are a further two points ahead. "We hope we can keep this up and stay in the Champions League spots," Cani said. "We are not going to settle for less. Although we do remember that we have just come up from the second division." Striker Jeremy Perbet needed 30 seconds to put Villarreal ahead at El Madrigal Stadium by volleying in a cross by Hernan Perez that Cani had headed down to him in the area. Despite the early blow, Espanyol hung in the match thanks to Kiko Casillas goalkeeping to stop two shots by Giovani Dos Santos before halftime. Javier Aguirres team, which was full of second-choice players, then pressed Villarreal into its area at the start of the second half. But Cani set up substitute Jonathan Pereira to tap in the hosts second goal off the break in the 67th after streaking down the left flank. Espanyol, however, wasnt done and forward Sergio Garcia pulled one back in the 80th when he spun away from his marker and drilled a shot past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo to leave the result in doubt until the final whistle. It was Espanyols first loss of the season. "Both goals that we conceded could have been prevented," Aguirre said. "We can lose a game but maintaining a sense of order is a priority for us. We scraped and played well, but Villarreal had the answer. We can only congratulate them because theyre on a great run." Also, Athletic Bilbao fought back for an entertaining 2-1 win over Real Betis, while Getafe beat visiting Celta Vigo 2-0. Biilbao dominated the match at the new San Mames Stadium, which has sections of seating still under construction, with forward Ibai Gomez peppering Betis area with crosses from the left wing and hitting the crossbar twice before halftime.dddddddddddd But Betis goalkeeper Guillermo Sara saved a penalty kick taken by Benat Etxebarria in the 58th when Markel Susaeta wrong-footed Xavi Torres and was tripped by the midfielder in the box. In a rare excursion into Bilbaos area, Betis forward Jorge Molina poked his own rebound from a header saved by Gorka Iraizoz under the keeper from a tight angle to snatch the lead in the 62nd. Bilbao kept pushing forward and the 73rd-minute equalizer came through Oscar de Marcos, who went on in the 70th and soon raced in to head Benats cross between Saras legs. Defender Mikel San Jose was then left unmarked to head in Gomezs cross-- the first one he sent in from the right side-- to take Bilbaos winner in the 82nd. Molina almost grabbed a draw for Betis, which was left with just one victory this season, with a shot off the post four minutes from time. "To be fair, Athletic should have gone into halftime ahead," said Betis coach Pepe Mel. "From there on, with the saved penalty, the sensation that I take away is that we did enough to take a point." Getafe centre back Lisandro Lopez scored one goal and set up a second to give the Madrid-based team its second victory of the season. Lopez headed in a cross by Pedro Leon one minute before halftime, and the Argentine flicked on Leons corner kick for Alvaro Arroyo to double the advantage five minutes after the break. "We should have won by a wider margin," said Getafe coach Luis Garcia. "We had the game under complete control throughout. This is the line we have to continue in, playing with this degree of intensity." 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