Anything can happen at the Daytona 500 and on Saturday the pace car caught on fire. The fire started in the trunk of the Chevrolet pace car, but smoke could be seen coming through all of the windows. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire to start, but Chevrolet said it is assessing the incident to determine a cause.
The pace car was leading the racers in Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited exhibition Sprint Cup Series race. The car was being driven by Brett Bodine, a former Cup Series driver who was able to pull the car to the apron after turn two. After the car was pulled off the track, the smoke began to bellow out of the windows and flames came out the rear of the car. A replacement pace car was brought in so the race could continue after a short delay.
The pace car isn’t the only car to experience difficulties at the Daytona Speedway. Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart both blew engines while practicing for the Daytona 500. Both engines were Hendrick engines and had to be swapped out, leaving Patrick and Stewart to start at the back of the pack.
Two years ago the Daytona 500 race was delayed for several hours due to rain and an accident caused by driver Juan Pablo Montoya. A piece of Montoya’s car broke off during the race and caused him to hit a jet dryer. The jet spilled fuel all over the track and then both the jet and the track caught on fire.
Hopefully there will be no more problems at the speedway and the Daytona 500 Nascar race will go on as planned.
What do you think could have caused the pace car to catch fire and who do you think will win the Daytona 500?
Image via YouTube.