With just 32 laps in the books at the Daytona 500, cautions have been coming out at an astounding rate. Already, the field has been placed under caution four times, the latest of which resulted from a big crash that took out a few of the favorites. Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle and others were all caught up in the wreck, which may end up being considered this year’s big one.
Gordon was a favorite to win the Daytona 500 after qualifying second last Sunday, just behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jimmy Johnson, a star on the NASCAR circuit, was certainly in the mix as well, but saw his hopes end with the crash. Kevin Harvick and JJ Yeley are also out, though each dropped earlier in the race with problems.
With the crash involving a fair amount of cars, the field is quickly being pared down, with just 30 cars on the lead lap. At the start, 43 drivers were entered, but many have already fallen off the pace for various reasons as cautions come out left and right. With speeds hitting the 200 mile per hour mark and cars racing three- and even four-wide, the margin for error is slim.
In non-crash related news, Earnhardt Jr. continues to climb, sitting in eighth as it stands now. Enumclaw’s Kasey Kahne is in 18th, sliding in-and-out of the top-10 throughout the first quarter of the race. Jamie McMurray currently leads, followed closely by Juan Pablo Montoya.
For more on the race, check out our Daytona 500 StoryStream.