Enumclaw’s Kasey Kahne had moved as high as third place early in Sunday’s Daytona 500 when he was involved in a nine-car crash on the 32nd lap that dropped him out of contention.

According to nascar.com, Kyle Busch’s car caught Kahne’s left rear, which caused Kahne’s No. 5 car to spin into the infield.

The article on the nascar site stated:

Another handful of pre-race favorites dropped from contention after an early nine-car crash, triggered when Busch shoved Kasey Kahne into a spin just past the start-finish line in the 32nd lap. The melee collected Kevin Harvick – the winner of the Sprint Unlimited and Budweiser Duel preliminaries – and Tony Stewart, a four-time winner at Daytona, but never in the 500.

“I was kind of right in the middle of the race track, and it closed the door on us,” Stewart said. “… If I didn’t tell y’all I’m disappointed and heartbroken, I’d be lying to you.”

Busch accepted blame as he radioed his crew during the caution period, but Kahne seemed to absolve him, saying that he hit the brakes when teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon slowed ahead of him. By the time it was over, defending Sprint Cup champ Brad Keselowski, Casey Mears, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kurt Busch were also involved.

“Oh, it’s crazy. I can’t believe it,” Kahne said of his early exit. “I mean, I wanted to race. I didn’t want to run single-file by the wall. That’s what we were doing and you still got caught in something. I really don’t know how it happened like that. I understand how that happens but it’s restrictor-plate racing and anything can happen here.”