"I can't believe it. We were 30-something there with 15 laps to go and we came up through there. I've just got to thank Richard (Childress) and everybody for an awesome race car," said the happy winner.

A red flag for a multi-car crash on the 197th lap stopped the race for 11 minutes, setting the stage for a frantic green-white-checkered flag finish.

For the restart Martin led Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle, but on the final lap, the running order was shuffled with three and four-wide passing taking place. Another multi-car crash took place just as the leaders were heading to the checkered flag.

Harvick bolted from the back of the frontrunners to pass the top-10 cars, blowing by them on high side and catching Martin at the finish line to win the race by inches, or 0.020 seconds.

The winner, who started in the 34th position, drove the Shell Oil Chevrolet owned by Richard Childress Racing.

It was Harvick's 11th NASCAR Nextel Cup triumph in 179 races. His previous best finish in the Daytona 500 was fourth in 2003 and 2004. He led only four laps, tying the late Benny Parsons for the fewest laps led by a Daytona 500 champion.

"It is hard to believe," Harvick said. "I just held the pedal down and hoped for the best. It was the last lap of the Daytona 500 and you have to go (for it). It was take all you can, and there was no giving up. I caught the side draft (from Martin's car) that I needed and that carried me by Mark (Martin)."

Said Childress, "It is a great win and it gives me thoughts about the 1998 race (won by Dale Earnhardt). It was unbelievable to see the moves Kevin (Harvick) made. This had to be the wildest Daytona 500 I have ever seen."

Ironically, Childress'' victory came six years to the day after Earnhardt lost his life in a last lap crash at Daytona. "I know Dale (Earnhardt) is proud of what we have done today," Childress stated. "I don't think anyone will replace him; winning with Dale was great."

Leading 26 of the closing 27 laps, Martin held on for second place for his best-ever Daytona 500 finish. And it marked his first time in a Chevrolet and with Ginn Racing.

"I did my best at the end but we came up short," Martin said. "My focus was on beating (Kevin) Harvick to the (finish) line. I knew being on the inside I could hold off Kyle (Busch) but I didn't realize I had lost him. We came here to win this race."

Jeff Burton, Harvick's teammate, scrambled to third place. "It was crazy out there," he said. "I had my eyes closed the whole time from the restart. My car looks like we were at Martinsville."

He also indicated he felt bad for Martin. "Mark (Martin) deserves to win the Daytona 500."

Mike Wallace's fourth place finish was his best-ever at Daytona. "Fourth place in the Daytona 500 is pretty cool for our race team," he said. "I am incredibly thrilled. We were horrible in the first part of the race. I was bored in the first part of the race as I drove around not seeing any other cars."

Rookie David Ragan brought his AAA Ford home to fifth place. "To come out of here with a top-five finish is remarkable for everyone at Roush Fenway Racing," he stated.

Sixth through tenth places went to Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, pole winner David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek and three-time race champion Jeff Gordon.

On the last lap, a seven-car crash sent Clint Bowyer's Chevrolet flipping over. The crash occurred just as the leaders were crossing the finish line. Others involved were Gordon, Kyle Busch, Biffle, Gilliland, Kenseth and Sterling Marlin.

"We were just racing hard," said the uninjured Bowyer. "I saw Kyle (Busch) get sideways and thought I had cleared him, but someone clipped me in the rear and away we went."

Five laps earlier, Jamie McMurray and teammate Matt Kenseth tangled, triggering an accident that eliminated McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle, were two of the most dominant drivers. Kurt Busch led 96 laps before he tangled with Tony Stewart, who had just gotten past the older Busch.

"I got him aero loose," Kurt Busch said. "He checked up in front of me, and I bumped into him. I feel bad for him."

Stewart accepted the apology. "It mishandled in the corner and just took off for me. It is too bad as we had the strongest car today."

In an earlier pit-lane incident, Stewart nearly got involved in an incident between Robby Gordon and Gilliland, dropping him as far back as 40th in the field. He worked his way through the field and had just regained the top position with when the wreck occurred on the 152nd go-around.

Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was eliminated in an accident on the 173rd lap.

Dale Jarrett, another former champion, came from last to 22nd place to give Toyota its highest finish in their debut Nextel Cup race today.

Daytona 500: Greg Biffle race quotes

GREG BIFFLE -- No. 16 Ameriquest Ford Fusion (Finished 25th)

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END? "I have no idea. It looked like the 5 got loose. The 5 got loose and then we all wrecked."

THE RACING SEEMED PRETTY MUNDANE AND THEN GOT WILD AT THE END. "It was a 200-mile, the biggest race of the year. You wait until there's 10 to go, and you go. That's what I did. I just took care of my car all day and when it came time I put the pressure on it. It was a good race car. I don't know if I could've won, but I wish I wouldn't have got wrecked."

THERE WERE TIMES DURING THE RACE THAT YOUR CAR WAS VERY STRONG. "Yeah, we worked a lot on it. It took us a while, but we got it where I liked it, and we got it going good and fast."