Well, if that wasn't a stressful 36 hours I don't know what is. The 54th Great American Race tried numerous times to get the cars on track and wave the green flag on Sunday [February 26]. Pouring rain washed out the track in between track dryings all throughout Sunday afternoon. Drivers and crew members patiently (maybe even nervously) awaited to go racing for the first time in 2012. By 5:30 NASCAR President Mike Helton decided to postpone the race until Monday [February 27] at 12 P.M ET. However, many members and fans knew the forecast looked the same as Sunday's. This is the first time in Daytona 500 history that the race was postponed to a different date.
As 12 P.M got closer on Monday morning the rain was still coming down hard. Once again the race was delayed to 7 P.M. Monday night. First time NASCAR would be aired on Prime Time. A few scattered showers threatened the track, but green flag still arrived on time.
Polesitter Carl Edwards led the field at the start with help of his Roush teammates, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth. It didn't take long for the action to start when Jimmie Johnson was turned into the wall on lap 2. Yes, LAP 2! Elliott Sadler seemed to have gotten in the back of Johnson resulting in a hard hit for Mr. 5-time. A large amount of cars were torn apart including David Ragan, Kurt Busch, Danica Patrick, Trevor Bayne and others. That's a lot of money down the drain just on the second lap!
Pack racing is definitely back at the super speedways. There were many close calls as the cars went around 3-wide toward mid-pack. Denny Hamlin was strong all night as well as Greg Biffle. Hamlin led the most laps of the race.
There were a few 1 car incidents throughout the middle of the race. Ryan Newman had a "Kyle Busch" like save when he got loose and spun off the track. He managed to save it, but lost many positions. Many drivers were suffering overheating and water pressure problems.
Then, the unexpected happened. Under caution Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the 42 Target Chevrolet, exited pit road after having vibration problems. While catching up with the pack something in his car broke and he spun smashing into the Jet Dryer on the track. The dryer was blowing off debris when this occurred. There was a massive explosion as Montoya's car plowed through the truck and the dryer leaked over 200 gallons of jet fuel. Montoya was able to walk off from his burning car to the ambulance. The driver of the Jet Dryer immediately escaped the truck and was later taken to a near by hospital for further observation. The race was halted in a red flag as a numerous amount of officials and workers removed the burnt Jet Dryer from the track and began to clean up the mess. Dave Blaney was leading when the red flag was issued and it did not look like they would restart the race, but with the help of all the hard working officials they were able to get the track back to racing condition.
2 hours later the track was cleared and ready for the cars to fire up again. It wasn't until midnight that the green flag waved. Blaney gave up the 1st position to pit along with the rest of the pack. The spot where the fire burnt the track did not affect the cars. The first caution since the red flag was on lap 176 when Marcos Ambrose and Casey Mears were part of a mishap and spun into the infield grass.
A huge multi-car crash was caused by a 3-wide situation. Jamie McMurray had a problem with his car collecting Brad Keselowski, Regan Smith, Carl Edwards, Aric Almirola and others. Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all ran up front single file.
Another big wreck on the frontstretch caused when McMurray had problems with his car. He got loose and took out Tony Stewart, Dave Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Landon Cassill, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and others.
Green-White-Checkered came out and it was a dash to the finish. Matt Kenseth leads with teammate Greg Biffle and Dale Jr. creeping ip behind him. Greg Biffle tried to block Jr. and allowed his fellow Roush driver to win his 2nd Daytona 500!
This will be a 500 that goes down in history for many generations to come. From rain to fire we saw it all.
As 12 P.M got closer on Monday morning the rain was still coming down hard. Once again the race was delayed to 7 P.M. Monday night. First time NASCAR would be aired on Prime Time. A few scattered showers threatened the track, but green flag still arrived on time.
Polesitter Carl Edwards led the field at the start with help of his Roush teammates, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth. It didn't take long for the action to start when Jimmie Johnson was turned into the wall on lap 2. Yes, LAP 2! Elliott Sadler seemed to have gotten in the back of Johnson resulting in a hard hit for Mr. 5-time. A large amount of cars were torn apart including David Ragan, Kurt Busch, Danica Patrick, Trevor Bayne and others. That's a lot of money down the drain just on the second lap!
Pack racing is definitely back at the super speedways. There were many close calls as the cars went around 3-wide toward mid-pack. Denny Hamlin was strong all night as well as Greg Biffle. Hamlin led the most laps of the race.
There were a few 1 car incidents throughout the middle of the race. Ryan Newman had a "Kyle Busch" like save when he got loose and spun off the track. He managed to save it, but lost many positions. Many drivers were suffering overheating and water pressure problems.
2 hours later the track was cleared and ready for the cars to fire up again. It wasn't until midnight that the green flag waved. Blaney gave up the 1st position to pit along with the rest of the pack. The spot where the fire burnt the track did not affect the cars. The first caution since the red flag was on lap 176 when Marcos Ambrose and Casey Mears were part of a mishap and spun into the infield grass.
A huge multi-car crash was caused by a 3-wide situation. Jamie McMurray had a problem with his car collecting Brad Keselowski, Regan Smith, Carl Edwards, Aric Almirola and others. Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all ran up front single file.
Another big wreck on the frontstretch caused when McMurray had problems with his car. He got loose and took out Tony Stewart, Dave Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Landon Cassill, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and others.
Green-White-Checkered came out and it was a dash to the finish. Matt Kenseth leads with teammate Greg Biffle and Dale Jr. creeping ip behind him. Greg Biffle tried to block Jr. and allowed his fellow Roush driver to win his 2nd Daytona 500!This will be a 500 that goes down in history for many generations to come. From rain to fire we saw it all.
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