Kyle Busch leads at halfway; then gets knocked out

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- As storm clouds loomed in the west, Kyle Busch led the 51st Daytona 500 at its halfway point. But 24 laps later, Busch, the runaway early leader who had led 83 laps, was out of the race when he got caught up in a 10-car melee on the backstrech of Lap 124.

A sixth caution for debris came out on Lap 118 when David Stremme blew a right rear tire near Turn 4 and came into the pits, spewing debris onto the track.

When the race resumed, Elliott Sadler was in the lead. But a 10-car melee ensued on the backstretch of Lap 124 when the lapped cars of Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came together. Vickers had attempted to block Earnhardt and ran the popular driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet below the yellow-line boundary. Earnhardt retaliated by turning his car into Vickers', which sparked a pileup that collected Busch's car.

The leaders:

1. Elliott Sadler
2. Reed Sorenson
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Jeff Burton
5. A.J. Allmendinger