I honestly thought I had seen everything possible in NASCAR, but this was the Daytona 500. As we have seen the last few years, literally anything is possible, whether it be positive or negative.
The last two season-opening events at Daytona have both been havoc and inspirational. In 2010, the pothole developing in the track got more discussion than race winner Jamie McMurray, because there’s never been such an incident in the sport. That incident led to a complete repave of the track, and brought fans a memorable 2011 event that saw a Cinderella story for the ages.
No one will ever forget seeing Trevor Bayne roll the Wood Brothers car into victory lane in just his second start, and setting forth one of the most memorable seasons in NASCAR.
This year, Mother Nature decided to show her card on Sunday, moving the race to Monday. Originally set for a noon start, NASCAR officials and president Mike Helton decided rather than waste time because of the persistent showers forecasted all afternoon, they elected to move the race to a 7 p.m. start time. For the first time in history, the season-opening event would not only be run on a Monday, but would for the first time ever be run as a full prime-time race.
If seeing five-time champion Jimmie Johnson get knocked out of the race after just one lap was any indication, it meant that this season was going to be a crazy one.
But no one that stuck out the rain at the track, watching on television, streaming the race live on their laptops, nor listening to it on their radios could ever anticipate what happened with just over 40 laps to go. It was simply the most shocking, and most unexpected incident to ever happen at the Daytona International Speedway. Cars have gone through guardrails, drivers have gotten in fist fights, and some drivers waited two decades to get the win. But nothing like this has ever occurred.
Juan Pablo Montoya had already been complaining of issues following a pit stop, feeling a bad vibration in his car. After his stop, while coming around the track to catch the field so he didn’t have to go a lap down, something came loose. His car turned immediately right…into a jet drier.
At that moment, a huge fireball came from turn 3. Keep in mind, when I say jet drier, the unit used to either dry the track or clear debris is filled with aircraft grade jet fuel. The moment Montoya’s No. 42 Chevrolet hit the unit, an immediate spark caught the drier on fire. The fuel began spilling out of both the drier and then the risk became the truck itself that was pulling it, which had 500 gallons of diesel fuel in the bed.
The driver of the truck, and Montoya, were both taken to the care center, and were said to be okay, but the driver of the truck was shaken up to say the least.
The fuel ignited all the way across the track, as if it was something that came out of a Spanky Spangler stunt show.
It took two hours to get the entire mess cleaned up, using a combination of speedy dry, some water, and of all things, powdered Tide detergent, which was used to neutralize the fuel. What was surprising is that the track itself was not hurt, at least not initially. The SAFER barrier needed some foam replacement, and there was a very noticeable scorch in the fence where the truck caught fire.
Track officials will be checking the surface again today as the next race for Daytona is not until July 7, but the inspection process as to if there was any real damage to the surface begins now.
I’m happy for Matt Kenseth, who did win the race. It seemed like that was something that we all forgot about in all the excitement of the fire, but it also meant that Ford won the last three races at Daytona, and has won three of the last four Daytona 500 events.
But for 2012, the talk of this Daytona 500 will be the delay to Monday, and a fire that started unlike any incident ever seen in NASCAR.
RESULTS: 1-Kenseth 2-Earnhardt Jr. 3-Biffle 4-Hamlin 5-Burton 6-Menard 7-Harvick 8-Edwards 9-Logano 10-Martin
NOTABLE FINISHES: 16-Stewart 17-Kyle Busch 29-Kahne 32-Keselowski 38-Patrick 40-Gordon 42-Johnson
CAUTIONS: 10 for 42 laps. Lap 3-7 (#10, 21, 33, 34, 48, 51 accident-FS), 14-16 (#39 spin-T2), 65-67 (Debris), 82-85 (Oil on track), 89-91 (#9, 32 accident-trioval), 130-132 (#15 stopped on track), 158-166 (#30 spin-T3 [Red Flag-Lap 161, 2:05:29 for track cleanup after #42 accident with jet drier]), 179-182 (#6, 9, 13, 43 accident-FS), 189-193 (#1, 2, 5, 14, 43, 78, 99 accident-FS), 198-200 (#6, 14, 18, 20, 36, 38, 39, 93 accident-FS).
LEAD CHANGES: 25 among 13 drivers. Edwards POLE, Biffle 1-9, Smith 10-11, Biffle 12-14, Menard 15-16, Hamlin 17-40, Burton 41-57, Gordon 58, Stewart 59-60, Burton 61-67, Biffle 68-76, Truex Jr. 77-81, Biffle 82, Labonte 83-85, Biffle 86-99, Truex Jr. 100-101, Hamlin 102-129, Biffle 130, Martin 131-132, Biffle 133-138, Hamlin 139-143, Logano 144-145, Kenseth 146-157, Biffle 158, Blaney 159-164, Kenseth 165-202.
TIME OF RACE: 3 Hrs, 36 Mins, 2 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 140.256 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.210 Seconds
POINT STANDINGS: 1. Kenseth, 47 points; 2. Earnhardt Jr, -5; 3. Biffle, -5; 4. Hamlin, -5; 5. Burton, -7; 6. Menard, -8; 7. Harvick, -10; 8. Edwards, -11; 9. Logano, -11; 10. Martin, -12; 11. Bowyer, -14; 12. Truex Jr, -14