Massive Fiery Wreck Leads To White-Knuckle Finish For NASCARs Daytona 500

The Daytona 500 had a tense finish early Monday when a massive fiery wreck in the final lap knocked out the leaders and led to a surprise winner in Michael McDowell. 

No one was seriously injured in the crash, which was caught from multiple angles: 

Driver Kyle Busch described being in the middle of it all:  

The crash cleared the track of its leaders and gave McDowell an upset victory. 

McDowell had a 100-1 odds of winning before the race and hadn’t led any lap until that last one.

It was his first win in 358 Cup Series starts.

“So many years just grinding it out and hoping for an opportunity like this,” McDowell said, according to AP . “Such a great way to get a first victory — a Daytona 500. Are you kidding me?”

Brad Keselowski, who was just behind race leader and teammate Joey Logano, walked away uninjured... but unhappy: 

The sequence seemed to begin when McDowell bumped Keselowski , who was trying to pass Logano. Keselowski and Logano crashed, taking out multiple other vehicles in the process. 

“I don’t feel like I made a mistake,” Keselowski said after the race . “But I can’t drive everybody else’s car.” 

He later tweeted:

The wreck came nearly 20 years to the day after racing legend Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona on Feb. 18, 2001, which shook the sport and helped led to safety changes .