Up in smoke: Tony Stewart's hopes for first Daytona 500 win end early
The first major incident of Sunday's 57th running of the Daytona 500 collected three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart, two-time Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth and rookie Ryan Blaney.
The incident occurred as the field raced off Turn 4 to complete Lap 41 when Stewart's No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet drifted up the track and into Blaney"s No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.
The contact sent teh right front of Stewart's car into the outside wall and also squeezed Blaney into the wall. Behind them, Kenseth's No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was turned into the outside wall after contact from Michael Waltrip's No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota.
Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski were also involved, but did not suffer major damage. Blaney"s No. 21 Ford was able to remain on the lead lap.
After the wreck, Stewart took blame for the incident.
"I take the blame for that one," he said on the team radio. "That was 100 percent my fault."
Both the SHR and JGR crews quickly went to work on pit road making repairs to their respective cars. Stewart and Kenseth remained on pit road with the race restarted on Lap 45.
On Lap 50, Stewart took his No. 14 Chevrolet behind the wall as the crew planned to replace the spindle. Stewart returned to the track on Lap 108, was 64 laps down to the leaders, but later returned to the garage.
Climbing from the car, Stewart's Daytona 500 ended early, resulting in a 42nd-place finish. This was Stewart's fourth DNF in the Daytona 500, a race he has yet to win in 17 tries.
"We ran as many laps as we could that would get us ... we couldn't run any more laps and gain anything," said Stewart. "It's the biggest race of the year and the last thing you want to do is stay out there and have something else happen to get in the middle of something. Let's just let those guys have their day."
Stewart's crew spent much of Friday repairing the right side of the car after suffering damage in his Budweiser Duel.
