Posts Tagged ‘daytona 500’

Juan Pablo Montoya slammed into a jet dryer under caution and caused a fiery explosion. Montoya was driving well behind the rest of the field when something on his car broke, and he started sliding out of control toward the truck, which holds 200 gallons of jet kerosene, according to the huffington post.

The crash left Montoya unhurt, although he seemed to stagger around the infield grass. The driver of the truck had to be helped from the vehicle.

The incident plus rain suspended the Daytona 500. It was postponed more than 30 hours, rescheduled as a primetime event under the lights. Montoya’s crash led to an extended stoppage with 40 laps to go as the track was repaired. Driver Brad Keselowski killed time by chatting with fans about the stoppage on Twitter, presumably another Daytona first. After the restart, there were additional wrecks, including one that knocked Keselowski out.

The delay came so long after the 500 was halted for hours because of a pesky pothole in turn two. That one damaged the track so much that officials moved up a scheduled repaving to the track. It’s the latest mess to hamper NASCAR’s season-opening race.

The sorrow atmosphere was turned brighter in the following day as the race, one of the legendary events in the sport, was finally won by Matt Kenseth early Tuesday morning.