Daytona 500

[Scott K]

It's finally over. The craziest Dayton 500 I've ever seen, possible that anyone's ever seen. Delayed by rain from Sunday at 1:00 PM to Monday evening at 7:00 pm? OK, I can deal with that. I didn't even finish saying "at least they made it through the first lap without a wre..." WHAM. First wreck. Danica Patrick looked luck, as her car just barely threaded the needle between 2 other spinning cars, but the damage was already done to it, and she finished 39 laps down after lenghty repairs. So much for that much hyped story. Later, after a "typical" incident filled race, and with 40 laps to go, came the Juan Pablo Montoya wreck. Something broke on his car as he was running quickly to rejoin the pack during a caution, and he slammed into one of the jet dryers blowing debris from the track. BOOM! Big eruption of fire from the shattered jet engine as it's fuel ignited after pouring in a river down the banking. Thank goodness Montoya and the driver of the dryer truck were OK, more than I can say for their vehicles! A 2 hour delay ensued as they worked to put out the fire, remove the wreckage, and clean and repair the track. Finally, after midnight, the race entered it's second day, and restarted, after first having a minor scare that it would rain again. A clean restart? Nope. More wrecks. The race finally ended under a green-white-checker finish.

Congratulations Matt Kenseth! The crazy 2012 500 is finally history. On to Phoenix!

I'm sure all the news media will be showing highlights of the wrecks and fire for the rest of the week. Check out Nascar.com for all the details, if you missed the race.

Jet dryer crash video here; Montoya slams into track dryer, sets it ablaze - NASCAR.COM Video (http://www.nascar.com/video/post-race/highlights/120227/cup-day-high-eight/index.html)

Now, I'm tired, time to go to bed!


Scott K.

[Darwin]

It's going to be one heck of a season. With this much carnage at Daytona, imagine what Bristol and Darlington are going to be like. It was great seeing Mark Martin running in the front pack...how he managed to keep from being collected up in the lap 197 wreck I will never know....I was hoping he would finally manage to get his Daytona win, but not to be.

[Inky]

Scott, you should be an announcer or newspaper writer, you did a great job at describing the race. It was one that is not going to be forgotten. Only thing that made me mad is they started the race right when my TV show Alcatraz was coming on. LOL

@ Darwin, I agree with you, I was hoping Mark Martin would get his Daytona win too.

[SCEtoAUX]

Yep, that was a wild last 36 laps. The predictions during the red flag delay came true about how crazy it was going to be.

The in car video of Jimmy Johnson's smash up realy demonstrated how good the safety features of the current NASCAR cars work. That was one heck of a hit he took in the driver's side door.

The Montoya/jet dryer crash was insane. It is good that both drivers got through it relatively unscathed, might have needed some clean underwear, though.

So much for that much hyped story. Patrick. Wreck. Again?:rolleyes:

[Retired_for_now]

Or just, "Patrick, Wrecked. Again!" Just the macho males vying for her attention - though a tap on the shoulder might be more effective than a tap on the bumper was ...

Yogi

[jmr248]

Best Tweet received last night. "Hello, jet engine on a truck. My name is Juan Pablo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Apologies to The Princess Bride.

[wag]

I saw a couple things during the Montoya incident that made me cringe. First, the fire crew was standing IN the spilled fuel while trying to put out the fire with dry chemical extinguishers. And while they were doing that they weren't wearing breathing apparatus. Thank heavens no one was hurt.
Wayne

[Scott K]

When I first saw the fuel streaming down the track, I didn't even realise it was fuel. I don't know what made think it was water at first, then the spark happened...

@ Inky, me, an announcer or newspaper writer? I just wish I could be as "well-spoken" when I'm trying to post about almost anything else here. I also just notice that I called it the "Dayton" 500. oops. Darned editing time limit.

@ jmr248, I lol'd at that one!

Mark Martin, Bobby and Terry Labonte? Sure wish they'd been able to finish higher, or at least actually get some mention and/or screen time from FOX! At least Mark got a top 10, anyway.

Scott K.