Jet Dryers Collide While Drying the Track at Daytona

As if the weekend couldn’t get any more bizarre, two jet dryers collided while trying to dry the racing surface at the Daytona International Speedway. Firetrucks were on the scene, and there appeared to be a jet fuel stain on the racing surface. Thankfully, no one was injured, and NASCAR was able to clean up the fuel spill without anything disastrous happening.

• The incident reminded many of the 2012 Daytona 500, also run on a Monday. In that race, Juan Pablo Montoya spun and hit a jet dryer under caution, which caused a big fire in turn three. That race was red-flagged for an extended period, but, it restarted after an extensive cleanup.
• Jet dryers are used to clean up the race track under a caution flag or to help dry the track after a rainstorm. A jet dryer is essentially a pickup truck with a jet engine lodged in the back to blow hot air onto the race track. The result is that debris is blown off or water is dried up quickly.
• Fans were quite surprised to see this, and many believe this could be an omen for a chaotic Daytona 500. The flashbacks to 2012 were real.