Daytona 500
Live Text
Sort by
Johnson's march forward continues, he's now 12th.
Big shuffle behind the top two, Mears, Keselowski and Terry Labonte move into third, fourth and fifth.
Hamlin and Busch go solo up front, then everyone behind them is in three-wide packs.
The whole lead group is three-wide now, with Hamlin holding a slight lead over Kahne and Kyle Busch.
Hamlin and Kahne surge to the front, Kyle Busch back to third and in the middle between Menard and Earnhardt.
Casey Mears is making progress in a three-wide mid-pack group and is up to seventh.
Johnson has moved up to 19th.
Johnson has moved up to 19th.
Kahne gets a bit of momentum on the inside and noses ahead. He's got Menard pushing him from behind, Busch has Hamlin. Nothing to choose between the side by side leaders right now.
The field holds its two-abreast formation, Kahne inches slightly ahead but then Busch breaks clear up front.
Green flag
Nearly seven hours on, it's green again at Daytona.
Order: 1 Kurt Busch, 2 Kahne, 3 Hamlin, 4 Vickers, 5 Menard, 6 Keselowski, green flag next time past.
Larson is 'lucky dogged' back onto the lead lap after his earlier incidents.
Kurt Busch, Dillon, Harvick, Bowyer, Newman, Allgaier, Bayne, Stewart, McMurray among those who pit.
Breaking news
We'll go green after two more laps.
Pitlane is about to be reopened, we'd expect a fair few cars to come in for adjustments while it's still yellow.
The prospect of more rain means that once lap 100 is passed, no one can afford to hang around because the flag could fall at any time.
But just to reiterate, NASCAR's 'plan A' is to run the full 500 miles tonight.
We're now onto lap 43.
But just to reiterate, NASCAR's 'plan A' is to run the full 500 miles tonight.
We're now onto lap 43.
Leader Kyle Busch is almost nudging the back of the pace car... He doesn't need to either bump draft or save fuel, so he's presumably just bored.
Yellow flag
Some of the track dryers are still in action so we remain under yellow for now as the field go onto lap 42.
Rain
There is still a possibility of the rain returning during the evening, but not imminently, so we should at least get past the 100-lap mark that would make the race official.
That red-flag stoppage was six hours and 22 minutes long. It felt like it.
Yellow flag
We're expecting about four laps under yellow to suss things out before the racing resumes properly.
Engines have started!
The track-drying vehicles are being called off so the racecars can get going.
Quote
American TV station Fox's decision to re-run the 2013 Daytona 500 broadcast during the rain stoppage (without sufficiently obvious IT'S A REPLAY branding) caused a lot of social media confusion with people thinking they were watching this year's race.
That meant 2013 winner Jimmie Johnson has spent the last few hours being congratulated for winning the 2014 race, which hasn't happened yet...
"I also won the Daytona 500 today, did you hear?" he jokes. "I had a lot of text messages come in... But that was '13, now let's go racing in '14."
That meant 2013 winner Jimmie Johnson has spent the last few hours being congratulated for winning the 2014 race, which hasn't happened yet...
"I also won the Daytona 500 today, did you hear?" he jokes. "I had a lot of text messages come in... But that was '13, now let's go racing in '14."
Drivers now have clearance to get into the cars. Crews are allowed to make tyre pressure adjustments, the only set-up tweak permitted during a red flag.
Drivers are being called to their cars. Nearly time to get going.
Of the drivers who have already had adventures, Biffle is back up to 24th despite slapping the wall, Larson is only 42nd after his pair of incidents, and Truex is out due to an engine failure.
Order for the green will be: 1 Kyle Busch; 2 Kahne; 3 Hamlin; 4 Vickers; 5 Menard; 6 Keselowski; 7 Gordon; 8 Logano; 9 Stenhouse; 10 Dillon.
Of note further back... 11 Kurt Busch, 14 Bayne, 18 Earnhardt, 27 Kenseth, 28 Harvick, 34 Stewart, 35 Bowyer, 38 Johnson
Of note further back... 11 Kurt Busch, 14 Bayne, 18 Earnhardt, 27 Kenseth, 28 Harvick, 34 Stewart, 35 Bowyer, 38 Johnson
Quote
Kyle Busch took the lead just before the yellow that preceded the long rain delay so he'll be up front when the green flag waves - which is expected to be within the next half hour. Here are his thoughts:
"We screwed some things up in the Duel race but it was fast earlier on today. I really wish we could've done it in the day. It's all a different scenario now under the lights."
"We screwed some things up in the Duel race but it was fast earlier on today. I really wish we could've done it in the day. It's all a different scenario now under the lights."
The covers have come off the cars and pitlane is buzzing again. This race is going to happen tonight.
Parker Kligerman crash
And that promise comes from a man who has already gone upside down in practice...
In fairness to Parker, rolling wasn't his choice and he was pretty peeved about it.
Twitter
Rookie Parker Kligerman promises a spectacular restart on the grounds that drivers will be refreshed:
"Here we go soon. Grab a seat because we've all napped or drank energy products. I'm sure this will be energised."
"Here we go soon. Grab a seat because we've all napped or drank energy products. I'm sure this will be energised."
Teams and drivers are all very familiar with how the cars handle at night, with the Duels having been moved to an evening slot for the first time this year and the Unlimited also a night race.
The expectation is that things will be even closer as the track is less slick in night conditions and handling becomes less important.
Conversely, there has been very heavy rain over the last few hours, leaving everything pretty 'green', so the early laps will be an adventure.
The expectation is that things will be even closer as the track is less slick in night conditions and handling becomes less important.
Conversely, there has been very heavy rain over the last few hours, leaving everything pretty 'green', so the early laps will be an adventure.
Before the rain, drivers had been pretty cagey, or "chillin' at the back" as Johnson put it. We'd expect things to be a bit more intense when we go back to green, if only because everyone is so desperate to get going again after this long pause.
NASCAR could flag the race at lap 100 and make it an official result, but it looks more likely that we'll get the full 200. The weather radars are now clear of rain and NASCAR has repeatedly stated its intention for the full 500 miles to be run on Sunday night if physically possible.
Bless NASCAR and its ability to spin a positive media situation out of pretty much anything. It's now using the hashtag '#NASCARprimetime' because the six-hour-plus delay means it has a Sunday night TV audience in America...
Teams haven't been allowed to touch the cars during the red flag period, so no repairs or set-up changes have been possible.
But quite a few drivers pitted for adjustment and minor bent-bodywork yanking during the yellow laps immediately before the red, which was all within the rules.
But quite a few drivers pitted for adjustment and minor bent-bodywork yanking during the yellow laps immediately before the red, which was all within the rules.
Twitter
Wood Brothers is the latest team to start a fan Q&A on Twitter (having declared itself "BORED..."). Here's an unnerving answer to a question about what difference the race being at night will make:
"Will help handling. Will likely cause more risks to be taken."
"Will help handling. Will likely cause more risks to be taken."
With so many of you sticking with us on AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live, we're going to keep commentary running until the end of the race, however late that might be.
That'll be a mere 6.5-hour rain delay!
Breaking news
NASCAR estimates the race will restart at 8.30pm local time, which is an hour and a half from now.
By: Matt Beer, Dan Cross
Published:
Lap:
