This wreck in Turn 4 on Lap 184 started when Greg Biffle (16) got loose. Credit: Autostock

Late wrecks thin field, create havoc at Daytona

Back-to-back pileups create lengthy cautions, mar final laps

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The first 183 laps of the Daytona 500 were surprisingly clean.

The next five, however, were absolute chaos, thanks to a pair of accidents that eliminated several capable machines from contention.

Scott Wimmer goes for a wild ride in Turn 4. Credit: Autostock

The first, and bigger, accident occurred on Lap 184, when Greg Biffle, riding just behind the lead pack, got loose in Turn 4.

Unable to corral his Ford, Biffle bumped Scott Riggs, triggering a 10-car wreck that included Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Rusty Wallace, Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield, among others, and sent Scott Wimmer on a wild ride down the apron.

Wimmer's Dodge flipped five times and pirouetted on its nose before coming to rest on its wheels on the infield grass.

Wimmer lost his breath, but was otherwise fine.

Bobby Labonte's day ends with early engine trouble Ricky Rudd blows a tire, collects several other cars Michael Waltrip's day literally goes up in smoke Scott Wimmer gets the worst of a big pileup in Turn 4 Jeff Gordon wins a green-white-checkered finish Jeff Gordon celebrates his third Daytona 500 win Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"It was scary," Wimmer said. "It wasn't too bad until I started going over. I haven't gotten over in a car in a while. It knocked the wind out of me, but I'm going to be all right.

"The car went around pretty good, landed on the ground pretty hard a couple times, but nothing too bad. I just couldn't breathe real good, probably sounded funny on the radio trying to talk to the guys."

McMurray ran in the top 10 for most of the day, and for a time even looked like a contender to win.

"Cars just started going everywhere," McMurray said. "You really can't see anything. I saw the No. 16 car going backwards, so I kind of knew that wasn't good.

"We had a good Dodge today, but we just don't have any luck here.

"I think it's the fourth in a row here that I haven't finished. So, it's frustrating. I was just going wherever nobody else was. You've just got to have friends.

"It was pretty good racing. We had a really good car, but we've just got to finish this deal."

Once that mess was cleaned up, the race was restarted on Lap 188.

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It didn't stay green long.

On the restart, a wreck once again piled up the field when Mike Skinner got into the back of Ryan Newman, who in turn bumped Carl Edwards.

"When it counted, ol' Lynyrd Skynyrd got me in the butt. That was pretty much it," Newman said of Skinner. "I missed the big crash. I was on the bottom of it, but I got in the crash on the frontstretch.

Mike Skinner (23) spent 73 laps in the top 10. Credit: AP

"We had a great (car). It was the fastest car on the racetrack. We kept getting blocked in the pits and everything else. I guarantee you we passed the most cars today without a doubt. The car handled great. Handling wasn't an issue. We just had bad luck. We got the short straw every time."

Skinner had an impressive run through Speedweeks in Bill Davis' No. 23 Dodge.

"We just stayed out of trouble all day and tried to keep the fenders on that thing," Skinner said. "We were right there in the top-10. That was just Skinner luck."