After being postponed on Sunday due to rain, NASCAR's Great American Race at the Daytona International Speedway finally kicked off in prime time on Monday night. In an event filled with spills, thrills and yellow flags, Matt Kenseth Road into victory lane in the 2012 Daytona 500. Missouri native Carl Edwards grabbed pole position for the event, but couldn't stay at the front of the pack after that. At one point he slipped into the 20s around lap 50, but managed to battle his way back into the race and finished inside the top 10. His eighth place finish isn't quite what Edwards had been hoping for, but is still a very respectable result in a calamitous race.
The headline event from the night was undoubtedly a collision between Juan Pablo Montoya and a Jet-Dryer truck that produced a massive fire on the tracks. SB Nation's NASCAR blog, Nascar Ranting & Raving, explains the calamity:
While speeding down the back stretch to catch up with the field while under caution Montoya's car suddenly veered right and slid up the track colliding with the Jet-Dryer that was cleaning the track. Mechanical problems were to blame for Montoya's sudden change in direction. After the collision, which totaled Montoya's car, the Jet Dryer's ruptured fuel tank spewed its contents onto the racing surface where it ignited into a massive wall of fire. NASCAR's fire team were eventually able to get the situation under control but, the track was slightly damaged during the intense inferno.
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Here are the complete results for the 2012 Daytona 500:
- Matt Kenseth
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Greg Biffle
- Denny Hamlin
- Jeff Burton
- Paul Menard
- Kevin Harvick
- Carl Edwards
- Joey Logano
- Mark Martin
- Clint Bowyer
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Marcos Ambrose
- Bobby Labonte
- Dave Blaney
- Tony Stewart
- Kyle Busch
- Terry Labonte
- Tony Raines
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Ryan Newman
- Landon Cassill
- David Gilliland
- Regan Smith
- Casey Mears
- David Reutimann
- Elliott Sadler
- Joe Nemechek
- Kasey Kahne
- Michael McDowell
- Jamie McMurray
- Brad Keselowski
- Aric Almirola
- AJ Allmendinger
- Trevor Bayne
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- David Stremme
- Danica Patrick
- Kurt Busch
- Jeff Gordon
- Robby Gordon
- Jimmie Johnson
- David Ragan
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For more in-depth coverage of NASCAR and the 2012 Daytona 500, head over to Nascar Ranting & Raving. And for more racing coverage, visit SB Nation's NASCAR news hub.