Daytona 500
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Menard completes the move and hits the front, Kurt Busch has fallen towards the bottom of the top 10.
Hamlin comes around the outside of Menard into second place, now he shoots into the lead but only briefly as Menard makes the inside work and takes first place.
Green flag
Back to green with Busch up front - he was the only one of the Stewart-Haas quartet in the top 30 before this yellow.
Stewart-Haas got Kurt Busch back out in first still, ahead of Menard, Earnhardt and Hamlin now back up to fourth.
Crash
Replays suggest Kenseth might have been tagged by Trevor Bayne on his way into the pits, while Patrick was clipped into a half-spin as she turned in by Ambrose as he exited the Petty pit.
Those with ears on the radio scanners suggest Patrick's crew chief Tony Gibson just dismissed Ambrose as a "butthole".
Those with ears on the radio scanners suggest Patrick's crew chief Tony Gibson just dismissed Ambrose as a "butthole".
Problems for Danica Patrick too, she's parked at a very wrong angle...
Crash
Kenseth spins into his pitbox! He's reversed back to find his crew!
Here they come, Busch leads Menard, Earnhardt and Scott into the pits, doesn't look like anyone will stay out.
Expect pitstops under this yellow, it's lap 23 so early but not ridiculously so.
'Lucky dog' honours under this yellow will go to Biffle, who will rejoin the lead lap.
Crash
Looks like that was a rear tyre going down for Larson. His Chevrolet already looks quite a mess from its earlier impact.
Crash
Juan Pablo Montoya's Ganassi replacement was already running last after brushing the wall and pitting for repairs, and he's just spun by himself.
Yellow flag
Yellow - it's another shunt for Larson.
Underdog praise alert: David Gilliland has got his Front Row Ford up to seventh place.
Crash
Biffle's made his pitstop and had some bent bodywork yanked away from the tyre on his Roush Fenway Ford.
Johnson
Up front it's still a single-file train - Kurt Busch leading Menard, Earnhardt, Scott, Ambrose and Hamlin.
Johnson is still down in 39th.
Greg Biffle, running back in 24th, plans to pit shortly after a minor brush of the wall.
Hamlin thought the rising temperatures were down to debris on the front end and that moving might dislodge it. His crew reckon it's paid off, but Hamlin says the temperature is still too high.
Hamlin tucks back in in sixth place behind Marcos Ambrose.
Hamlin pulls down to the inside line and immediately falls down the order as Kurt Busch hits the front ahead of Menard and Earnhardt.
Lots of worried radio chatter at Joe Gibbs about the engine temperature on race leader Hamlin's Toyota.
That's not great when the motor has 190 laps to do.
That's not great when the motor has 190 laps to do.
The field has split into three packs. The top 21 cars are nose to tail, then there's a gap to another gaggle led by the charging Truex in 22nd.
Lead order heading for lap 10 is Hamlin from Kurt Busch, Paul Menard, Dale Earnhardt Jr and rookie Brian Scott (in the fourth Childress entry).
Early indications are that going down to the inside line isn't too productive. Dillon and Gordon both went into reverse when they dropped down there.
Larson is back out, already a lap down. Polesitter Dillon has slid down to 14th now.
Single-file up front now, Hamlin leading from Kurt Busch.
No, it stays green, Larson is heading for the pits.
Crash
Kyle Larson runs high and brushes the wall... yellow?
Dillon gets momentum back and manages to lead at the end of lap one, but onto the second lap Denny Hamlin sweeps to the front, with Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch following him.
Kenseth starts to inch ahead of Dillon on the inside, and just behind them the lead pack is getting three-wide already.
Green flag
The pace car pulls off, the crowd goes nuts and the Daytona 500 begins.
The drivers who have to fall to the back for various reasons drop rearwards, among them Truex, Johnson, Stewart, McMurray, Bowyer and Patrick.
Stewart-Haas duo Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart's penalties were for engine changes after practice rather than shunts.
Stewart-Haas duo Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart's penalties were for engine changes after practice rather than shunts.
200 laps scheduled, pitstops due every 40-45 laps subject to yellows.
One more pace lap to go...
Jimmie Johnson
Another man heading to the back for the start is last year's 500 winner and series champion Jimmie Johnson.
He's had a pretty abject week so far. He crashed out of second in the Unlimited all by himself, then triggered the huge Duel two shunt by spluttering mid-pack as his Chevrolet ran low on fuel.
Quote
Cars are rolling. Incidentally, one driver who was a bit nonplussed by the decision to put #3 on Dillon's car is the man who starts closest to it - Matt Kenseth.
"I have mixed feelings on it, I mean there's only 99 numbers so I figured they were going to run it sometime and it was always Richard's number and everything but now it's just another number in my opinion.
"Unfortunately when I see it out on track I won't really associate it with Dale as much anymore."
"I have mixed feelings on it, I mean there's only 99 numbers so I figured they were going to run it sometime and it was always Richard's number and everything but now it's just another number in my opinion.
"Unfortunately when I see it out on track I won't really associate it with Dale as much anymore."
Quote
Drivers are getting into their cars, the command to start engines is imminent...
...actor Chris Evans does the honours in pretty shouty fashion.
...actor Chris Evans does the honours in pretty shouty fashion.
The pre-race national anthem can be a pretty painful experience, but this year's singer Aloe Blacc performed the role with a bit of dignity.
The tipping point is normally the last "land of the free" and how many syllables and notes they try to force into "freee-eee-eee-eee-eee". Blacc sung it like it was originally intended, rather than like an early-stages American Idol auditionee.
Future race build-up anthem singers, take note. Please, please take note. Please.
The tipping point is normally the last "land of the free" and how many syllables and notes they try to force into "freee-eee-eee-eee-eee". Blacc sung it like it was originally intended, rather than like an early-stages American Idol auditionee.
Future race build-up anthem singers, take note. Please, please take note. Please.
Josh Wise
AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live loves underdogs, so expect moderate typed excitement every time someone unlikely appears in the top 10 today, and hysteria should we see anything approaching the 'where-the-hell-did-that-come-from??' value of Trevor Bayne's 2011 win for Wood Brothers.
Our first nod is for Josh Wise - who spent most of last year start-and-parking for Front Row - and Phil Parsons Racing - which spent most of last year start-and-parking with Michael McDowell. The Wise/Parsons combo starts 10th. Good effort.
By: Matt Beer, Dan Cross
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