Daytona 500 Fiery Crash: Why This Snakebitten Race Should Have Been Called Early

This is ridiculous, not to mention pathetic and unsafe.

As I write this, there's a legion of safety personnel in fire suits pouring laundry detergent and hosing down a racetrack that just had 200 gallons of jet fuel ignite upon and mar its surface. 

Let's try this again for clarification: There was a surface fire with 200 gallons of jet fuel (that burns at nearly 600 degrees, by the way), which is now attempting to be fixed by a bunch of Tide and water (because asphalt is just like your linens), so that 900-horsepower cars can then drive over it at 180-plus mph mere inches apart from each other. 

Yeah, that sounds smart. Real safe, too. 

Are you kidding? Who are Fox and NASCAR fooling? It's essentially Tuesday on the East Coast (Tuesday!) and the powers that be are pretending that all is well.

It's not. This race is doomed, end it. Call the Daytona 500 now.

That surface in Turn 3 is dangerous, unknown. A helicopter engine exploded on it after Juan Pablo Montoya rammed the back of a jet dryer, and created one of the most bizarre, fiery moments in this sport's history. We've been stopped for untold time since then, with only 40 laps to go—far more than the minimum requirement for NASCAR to say "It's done." 

(Oh, wait, they've now brought out leaf blowers and brooms, because a racetrack is just like your lawn!)

NASCAR/FOX can pander all it wants to take advantage of the prime-time ratings, but this shouldn't happen. They can call the drivers back to their cars and do other dog and pony show tricks to keep viewers enticed, but that surface looks nowhere near ready. 

Am I an expert on jet fuel's averse affects on asphalt? No, but neither is NASCAR. This is a freak accident, with no precedent to rely on. What's been totally glossed over in this situation is how scary this actually was. Nobody was hurt, but imagine if this crash happened on the frontstrech, where fans are well within flame distance?

Good question for FOX to ask, right? Too bad they're busy sucking up with softball lobs and Twitter handle plugs. It wouldn't be a popular decision, but it's the safe one. Sure, it's not ideal for NASCAR, which most certainly doesn't want an unknown like Dave Blaney winning this race.  

But life's not perfect, as this rainy, and now fire-filled weekend has proven. 

Call it. Even though they won't, they should.