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2012 Daytona 500: Martin Truex Jr. Leads At The Mid Point, Takes Home Nice $200K Payday

After 100 laps at the 2012 Daytona 500, Martin Truex Jr. leads the Great American Race in what is the first ever Monday night NASCAR event. The race quickly went wild, as the race went to caution twice early on. It's a cool evening race and track conditions are perfect so far. There were some weather threats this evening but with half the laps completed, the race is now official.

There's a $200,000 pay for the lap leader at the halfway point, so Truex, Jr. is already having a nice evening. Many races do not even pay that much for the winner. The halfway leader has won the Daytona 500 thirteen times in the 51-year history of the race but it has not happened in the past twenty years.

Video of Truex Jr.'s $200k lap:

Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle have led the most laps in tonight's race so far, with Hamlin leading a 24-lap stretch before green-flag stops began.

Meanwhile, first-time Daytona 500 racer Danica Patrick is in trouble through the mid way point.

For updates on the Daytona 500 today, keep it locked to the official SB Nation StoryStream. For updates on the go, follow SB Nation Motorsports Editor Jeff Gluck on Twitter. For all things NASCAR, head over to the SB Nation NASCAR hub page.

Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.