The 2011 Daytona 500 has reached the midway point and Robby Gordon is your current leader (subject to a whole lot of change). In fact, as I type Ryan Newman has captured the lead and Gordon has dropped back to third.
The big story thus far would have to be the sizable accident on Lap 29 that knocked out a lot of big names. Jeff Gordon was one of the victims of this accident. While he was able to get his car fixed up, he is 30 laps back and is just looking to finish with some additional points. The change in the point scoring system provides some value to him finishing the race.
Race favorite Kevin Harvick was knocked out early on as he blew out his engine after only 23 laps. With Harvick and guys like Jimmie Johnson, Michael Waltrip and others knocked out of contention early on, the front of the race has been constantly changing. Clint Bowyer has led the most laps but is currently in 17th place. Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray have led the next most laps but they still remain in the top ten. Los Gatos-native A.J. Allmendinger has been bouncing consistently between 16th and 24th for much of the race.
We’ve got coverage of Bay Area drivers, and you can get full Daytona 500 coverage at SBNation.com.