Daytona 500 resumes after six-plus hour rain delay

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — To paraphrase Darrell Waltrip, boogity, boogity, boogity, we’re back to racing again.

The 56th Daytona 500, delayed for a race record six hours, 22 minutes by stubborn rain and even two tornado warnings, is back underway.

Kyle Busch led the race when it was red-flagged after 38 of the scheduled 200 laps (500 miles) due to stubborn rain and two eventual tornado warnings. Busch began the restarted race under caution and at the front of the field, with Kasey Kahne alongside in second place. The field went green on Lap 46.

The red flag was preceded seven laps earlier after the second caution of the race on Lap 31, caused when Martin Truex Jr.‘s engine let go on his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet, and additional fluid was found down on the track.

In the opening 30 laps, five drivers exchanged the lead for five lead changes. Kyle Busch leads now; brotherKurt Busch has led the most laps (15) thus far in his Stewart-Haas Racing debut.

Polesitter Austin Dillon led the opening lap before fading back, with Denny Hamlin, winner of the two other Speedweeks races thus far, then took over the point.

Kyle Larson hit the wall early, and spun later on, in what’s been a fraught Daytona 500 debut thus far.

After the first caution for Larson’s spin on Lap 23, the first round of pit stops featured drama for Matt Kensethas he was spun into his pit stall. The two-time Daytona 500 champion was facing the wrong direction after what appeared to be contact from Trevor Bayne.

Meanwhile, Richard Petty’s driver, Marcos Ambrose, made very slight contact leaving his pit with of all people, Danica Patrick.

Kurt Busch took the lead off the pit sequence, and exchanged the lead with Hamlin and Paul Menard on the Lap 27 restart. Brother Kyle took over the point several laps later.

At the red, the top 10 order is Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Hamlin, Brian Vickers, Menard, Brad Keselowski,Jeff GordonJoey LoganoRicky Stenhouse Jr. and Dillon. Kurt Busch has dropped to 11th.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”