You would think that something known as the "Super Bowl of Racing" would end in a way that would be less aggravating.  But not yesterday's Daytona 500.

The race was stopped 48 laps short of it's normal conclusion because of rain that finally made it's way over the speedway.  Matt Kenseth, who hadn't led a lap all day until the last one, was declared the winner.  It was an empty ending for one of the biggest events in sports.

The highlight prior to that was a nine car pileup initiated by Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Junior when Vickers tried to block Junior and Junior responded by tapping his bumper and wiping out a quarter of the field.  Vickers said it was unnecessary while Junior challenged Vickers to a fist fight.

What did we learn from the first weekend of racing?

• The Hendrick cars continue to struggle in restricter plate races.  The highest finish was Jeff Gordon at 13 who was plagued by tire problems.  Jimmie Johnson had a rough afternoon finshing 31st .  Mark Martin was strong early, then faded to 16th.
• Dale Earnhardt Junior continues to be overrated and now his frustration is causing him to make poor decisions.  First he was penalized for being on the line in his pit box and then the incident with Vickers.  Junior continues to benift from his genes and no, we're not talking about Wrangler.
• Joey Lagano proved he wasn't quite ready for prime time, getting into the infield wall on lap 79.  Meanwhile, the guy he replaced, Tony Stewart, had a terrific debut as an owner-driver, finishing 8th.
• The guy who is probably the most angry this morning is Elliott Sadler, who had a terrific run going until the rain came.  Had the race come to it's natural conclusion, Sadler definitely was good enough to win.
• Ditto Kyle Busch, who got caught up in the backwash of the Vickers/Earnhardt wreck.  In fact, kudos to Kyle for showing some new found maturity when he was asked about it by reporters.
• A moral victory of sorts for Michael Waltrip.  Mikey finished 7th, the highest among the Toyotas.
• Another moral victory: The Richard Petty Enterprises car driven by A.J. Almandinger finished 3rd.  I can't remember a higher finish for a Petty car since Kyle Petty was winning races back in the mid-nineties.
• There was no dominant make of car in the race as the top ten was equally distributed among Chevys, Fords and Toyotas.
• Not having winter testing due to financial constraints was a bad thing and obvious in the tire wear yesterday.