DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- That's it?

It's over?

There's no tomorrow?

I thought this was the Daytona 500. I thought this was the Super Bowl of stock-car racing. I thought these good ol' boys loved to race.

So, please, someone explain to me how can NASCAR allow its showcase event to end like this -- cut short by rain, halted after only 109 of the scheduled 200 laps around Daytona International Speedway's 2.5-mile tri-oval.

"You don't stop the Super Bowl because it rains, and this is our biggest race,'' Dale Jarrett, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, said after finishing 10th in Sunday's rain-interrupted farce. "We might want to look at it down the road, that we have to finish this race, even if it takes a day or two to do it.

"The competitors want to run 500 miles, but the biggest thing here is that we need to do it for the fans. We need to make this a complete race.''

As it stands, everyone left Daytona feeling cheated -- everyone, that is, except Michael Waltrip, his wife and his racing team.

He was leading when the race was suspended for the second and final time, so NASCAR declared him the winner.

Which means Waltrip has now won one Daytona 500 and one Daytona 272½.

Not only was it the first rain-shortened Daytona 500 since 1966, but it also was the shortest Daytona 500 ever.

But Waltrip, who took the lead for the final time on the 106th lap, didn't care.

"I looked over that way and saw some big clouds coming,'' Waltrip said. "That made me smile.''

In fact, Waltrip said he was praying the rain would continue. And he was downright giddy when NASCAR -- which requires at least half the scheduled distance, plus one lap, be completed for a race to be official -- called it a day.

"You know what I heard?'' Waltrip said with a smirk. "They're still going to pay me the whole amount.''

It was the wrong thing to say, especially after rambling on about how much Dale Earnhardt meant to him.

Waltrip won the 2001 Daytona 500 after Earnhardt, his team owner and teammate, was killed in a last-lap crash while blocking the path of would-be challengers.

"He was all about this place,'' Waltrip said, "and I know he's smiling now.''

I don't think so.

I think Earnhardt, who drove Daytona as if his life depended on it, would've wanted to finish the race, all 500 miles.

Even if it meant coming back Monday.

Even if it meant starting over.

Unlike Waltrip, Earnhardt never would have told reporters that he asked the Almighty to make it "rain for 40 days and 40 nights,'' just so he could win a race.

But maybe that's where NASCAR is headed, as it outgrows is regional roots and moves into the mainstream.

It used to be all about racing. Now, it's all about winning.

"It's a real disappointment for everybody, to come and run a race and really not get to run the race,'' said racing legend Richard Petty, who won seven Daytona 500s before retiring in 1992.

"It's a no-win deal for everybody -- fans, TV, sponsors. There's nothing you can do about it.''

Yes, there is.

Change the rules, just for Daytona. Bring 'em back and finish the race.

Otherwise, it's not the Super Bowl.

It's just another race.