DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a bizarre twist ahead of Monday’s 66th Daytona 500, two jet dryers collided in turn 1 during track-drying efforts at Daytona International Speedway.
The incident occurred just after 11:30 a.m. ET, when one dryer appeared to slide down the 31-degree banking, contacting a second dryer that was working on the bottom groove of the corner.
As a result of the contact, a puddle of fuel leaked onto the turn 1 asphalt, necessitating track washing efforts in the affected area with detergent soap and water.
A Daytona spokesperson confirmed that there were no injuries as a result of the incident.
How the jet dryer collision may affect Monday’s already weather-altered schedule is yet to be seen.
Persistent showers through the morning hours pushed the scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 300 from 11 a.m. ET back to 9 p.m., following the conclusion of the Daytona 500.
The Daytona 500 is slated for a 4 p.m. ET start, with broadcast coverage live on FOX, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
As of 12:30 p.m. ET, drying efforts around the 2.5-mile superspeedway were progressing nicely, with the exception of the fuel-affected area in turn 1.
Monday marks the second time in Daytona history that an incident involving a jet dryer has marred the proceedings during Daytona Speedweeks presented by AdventHealth.
The first was on lap 161 of the 2012 Daytona 500, where Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into a jet dryer in turn three after an apparent mechanical failure on his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet sent him careening out of control into the cleanup truck.
That incident caused jet fuel to pour out of the stricken drier, sparking a fire that lit the banking ablaze and led to a two-hour, five-minute and 29-second red-flag period for extensive track cleanup.
Among the cleaning efforts that night were a Bondo patch to repair patches of asphalt that were dug up by the dryer as it was removed from the banking, as well as Tide detergent washing that led to a sellout of the local Walmart and Target stores nearest to the speedway.
That night, the Daytona 500 took the checkered flag at 12:54 a.m. ET on Tuesday morning.
As one reporter noted in the moments following news of Monday’s incident, first reported by Greg Engle of Forbes, “it’s giving flashbacks to 12 years ago,” referencing Montoya’s now infamous turn-three crash.
They beat me to it… While reading I was wondering “Was Juan Pablo driving one of the jet driers?” lol
Maybe the driver was checking his mirrors for Montoya?
You can’t make this stuff up!
It’s Deja vu all over again.
Race drivers caused much more mayhem that the track dryers.. They destroyed 24 cars. Maybe they should be fined.
I don’t understand why they just didn’t light the fuel and let it burn it off quick then spray it down not letting you asshole get too hot that way the asphalt doesn’t get soft from the fuel or from the heat that would’ve been the quickest way to clean that up yet you still may have needed to scrub it down a bit but it wouldn’t of took nearly as long
And yes I have an extensive background and racing so I understand what kind of fuel three running
Ok, so you have a background in racing. I didn’t know that made you an expert on asphalt surface contamination removal and damage repair! WOW! You’re a jack of all trades (self professed)!
You win longest sentence of the week. Never, ever, let your asshole get too hot. Great advice.
NASCAR, that’s what they do…crash derby
Cheaters