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FIRE AND RAIN
Trumbull County native Dave Blaney leads Daytona 500 when fiery crash halts race
Associated Press
Daytona BEACH, Fla.
Photo
Emergency workers put out a fire on a jet dryer after it was struck by Juan Pablo Montoya’s car in Lap 160 of the Daytona 500 on Monday at Daytona International Speedway. Trumbull County native Dave Blaney was leading the race when it was halted with 40 laps to go. It had not restarted by press time.
First came the rain. Then came the fire.
Everything that could go wrong with this Daytona 500 did go wrong, and the first NASCAR race in primetime television will be remembered for everything but the eventual winner.
Trumbull County native Dave Blaney was leading when a problem with Juan Pablo Montoya’s car sent him spinning into a safety truck.
The truck, which holds 200 gallons of jet kerosene, burst into flames. Montoya’s car slid into the grass, and he gingerly climbed from it as fire trucks rushed to the scene.
The inferno raged, and NASCAR red-flagged the race with 40 laps remaining. The race was set to re-start just before press time after officials cleared the track of debris and fuel.
Jet fuel poured down the surface of Turn 3 at Daytona International Speedway, creating a fiery lasting image of NASCAR’s biggest race of the year.
It was par for the course for this Daytona 500, which was postponed for the first time in NASCAR’s 54-year history because of steady rain all day Sunday at the track. NASCAR initially planned to restart the race at noon Monday, but persistent rain forced series officials to make an early decision to hold off until 7 p.m.
Fox stayed with its plans to broadcast the 500, making it the first ever NASCAR race shown in primetime and an opportunity to feature the elite Sprint Cup Series. Carl Edwards, who fell just short of winning the title last season, started from the pole with champion Tony Stewart, seeking to snap an 0-for-13 losing streak in the Daytona 500, right behind him.
Danica Patrick, making the full-time move to NASCAR from IndyCar, was making her Daytona 500 debut.
Those storylines, however, were quickly forgotten in this bizarre 55th running of NASCAR’s version of the Super Bowl.
It took several minutes for safety workers to put out the fire, and then came the task of removing the truck from the track and cleaning up all that spilled fuel. Towing the truck from the steep banking presented a challenge, as NASCAR was nervous any movement would dig into the track surface.
The drivers were allowed to exit their cars after about 10 minutes under the red flag. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been complaining he had to go to the bathroom, and Brad Keselowski was posting to his Twitter account from inside his car.
Blaney did not get out of his car, and Jamie McMurray, who outlasted nearly two hours of delays to fix a pesky pothole during his 2010 victory, stopped at Blaney’s window to speak to the driver leading the biggest race of his career.