Close call? Close call. Either way, the first caution at the surprisingly clean (so far) Daytona 500 came out after a pretty simple mistake that could have ended much, much worse.
Corey LaJoie whacked the outside wall on lap 27 after trying to carry too much speed into pit lane. LaJoie narrowly missed Clint Bowyer’s rear end as Bowyer and several other cars tried to enter pit lane at the same time.
Bowyer’s spotter correctly identified this moment as a Code Brown: Level 9000 over the radio:
LaJoie made heavy contact with the outside wall, however, he was able to get his car repaired under five minutes and get back out on track.
Joey Logano, who had to pit early in the race for a loose wheel, is now back on the lead lap thanks to the caution.