Following the sight and sound of the B52, a mere 30,000 horsepower is almost an anticlimax, though the speed at which the pack of 43 cars thwacks around the massive tri-oval – 4kms in less than 40 seconds – makes it impossible to follow anything except that Kenseth’s “strategy” seems to be working. And, after qualifying in the top ten, Ambrose has fallen back mid-pack.

Over in the infield, NASCAR fans crowd the Fanzone Terrace, a large beer garden above the garage area serviced by several bars. It’s obvious this party will continue long after the victor has performed his tyre-shredding donuts and returned to the bosom of his family. Many of these fans are following the action on the big screen, turning only occasionally to watch the race leaders power out of turn four onto the large boomerang-shaped front straightaway, where the second multicar pileup of the evening occurs.

As the incident is replayed on the big screen, the Fanzone rushes to the edge of the terrace, phone cameras in hand, to photograph the wrecks being pushed, towed or shovelled into the garage area below.

Tour de France-style pack racing is a spectacle seldom seen, but Le Tour will never provide the visceral rush of hundreds of tyres burning out beneath 40 tonnes of metal sparking off the unforgiving concrete ‒ before the entire crashfest turns back in on itself. Hollywood mayhem in real time with no SFX, no computer graphics and no art director choreographing the action. Near misses and miraculous saves are highly appreciated, but it’s metal on metal that provides the real entertainment – to be relived and analysed many times over on huge screens. This is NASCAR.

With the race in its final stages, there’s yet another major melee that puts a number of drivers out of the race – eventually won by Tony Stewart, with Matt Kenseth fading to third. Ambrose is credited with 30th position and as IS leaves Daytona, we realise that, should Ambrose achieve his objective of victory on one of NASCAR’s high-speed ovals, the ultimate attribute could be measured by the number of 110kg Louisiana locals who sit on his face for a full course of enchiladas, washed down with jumbo-sized slurpies.

For Ambrose, it won’t be over until the fat ladies sit, but by then, he’ll have banked his 20th million, inspiring more than one of our V8 Supercar drivers to enter the portal into the parallel world of NASCAR.

Daytona NASCAR Long shot photos by Getty Images

                   ‒ Peter Whitaker