CONCORD, N.C. -- The 24 Hours of the Coca-Cola 600 finally came to a wet finish Monday at 6:25 p.m. ET, with the end anti-climactic to all but a few.

A mere smattering of fans were left in the rain-soaked grandstands at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and it seemed likely fans watching on television had long abandoned the Sprint Cup show for the national lacrosse finals and other sports that played on through the Memorial Day afternoon.

“

It seemed like we were out on pit road there [during the final red-flag period] for a month, waiting for them to call it. I was so glad that they finally did.

”

-- DAVID REUTIMANN

But in the end, after the race initially slated for a 6:03 p.m. start on Sunday, an ecstatic David Reutimann was declared the winner in the shortest 600 in history. It actually was the Coca-Cola 340.5 as only 227 of the scheduled 400 laps were completed.

Monday's race really was broken into three segments, each punctuated by a long red flag stoppage because of persistent rain that never stayed away for long.

The first caution for rain came on Lap 8 and lasted only a short while. But on Lap 72, as steady drizzle began to fall on the track between Turns 1 and 2 and gradually spread throughout the facility, a red flag was waved and a lengthy break ensued.

"I'm here for the duration. I don't care when we race," driver Carl Edwards said then. "It's really up to NASCAR and the fans and what's best for the show. I'm fine with racing at four in the morning or any day of the week."

Edwards admitted that he felt bad for fans, which had shown up in droves a day earlier -- and many of whom were back for at least the beginning of the marathon that would become Day 2 of the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600.

"As a fan, just sitting and watching this is frustrating and irritating," Edwards said. "As a competitor, I have to be real careful not to get frustrated.

"It's tough to sit around and wait for the track to dry. It's tough not to sit there and think about racing the whole time and wear yourself out, so I try to turn it off and then turn it back on right when I get in the car." (Continued)