BRISTOL, Tenn. — After four rain delays and 11 extra laps, Matt Kenseth finally drove to victory lane.

It took him nine hours to get there Sunday at a water-logged Bristol Motor Speedway.

Kenseth held off Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson on one final restart in NASCAR’s determined effort to stage a complete race.

The start was delayed nearly 90 minutes because of rain and the race was stopped three more times, including one delay that lasted almost four hours.

The final stoppage came when the race had already surpassed the scheduled 500 laps, but a shower had stalled NASCAR’s attempt to race to the checkered flag following an accident with eight laps left.

It was a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish and Kenseth, the pole-sitter, wasn’t challenged.

Johnson slid past Gordon to take second place.

The race had a series of hiccups unrelated to the rain stoppages: Austin Dillon ran out of gas while running third, Denny Hamlin didn’t get back in his car after the first rain break because of a kink in his neck, and the two Team Penske drivers wrecked each other.

Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch were in contention until they wrecked following a restart eight laps from the scheduled finish, and Busch put together his strong run with an interim crew chief because Tony Gibson couldn’t leave his motorhome due to pain from a kidney stone.

Kyle Larson, while leading, had a miscue with a pair of cars a lap down and the chaos it created sent Landon Cassill hard into the wall.

Hamlin, meanwhile, said he felt something strain in his neck 12 laps into the race. Joe Gibbs Racing turned to 18-year-old Erik Jones, one of its development drivers, to replace Hamlin.

When the race resumed after a rain delay of 3 hours, 58 minutes, Jones got a few dozen laps before a competition caution gave him a chance to catch his breath. He radioed that the steering wheel was too close, but the team did not have an opportunity to make any adjustments.

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