WATCH: Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya’s fireball crash at NASCAR’s Daytona 500 in 2012

More than a decade ago, Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya was involved in a horrific wreck at the Daytona International Speedway, leaving his car shattered.

Montoya has competed at the Cup Series level in NASCAR for nine years, totaling 255 race starts and 2 race wins. However, it was his 2012 Daytona 500 stint which ended on a dreadful note.

With only 40 laps left for the conclusion of the season-opener race at the DIS, Juan Pablo Montoya encountered a fatal crash, tearing down his #42 Chevrolet. The fireball incident happened under caution when the then 36-year-old driver rushed to rejoin the pack but got spun and wrecked into the Jet Dryer.

Montoya survived the massive incident, but his red Chevy got engulfed in flames. Following his horrific Daytona outing, the 2x NASCAR Cup Series winner detailed the reason that led to a life-threatening crash.

Juan Pablo Montoya said (via Autoweek):

"I told them when I left the pits something wasn't right and I felt a weird vibration when we were with the pack. Every time I got on the gas, it vibrated. So, I came back in and they checked all the rear end and they said it was OK."

He added:

"Every time I got on the gas I could feel the rear really squeezing. I got on the brakes to travel up and while I was telling the spotter to have a look on how the rear was moving, the car just turned right."

Montoya then shed light on his thought process when he foresaw the upcoming crash:

"I didn't think about the truck, I thought, 'I'm actually hitting the jet and it's not going to be fun.' Before I got there I was thinking, 'This thing is going to be on fire pretty bad,' and it was."

A video of the wreck was posted by a NASCAR fan on his X (formerly Twitter) account:

Brad Keselowski gave live updates to the NASCAR community on Juan Pablo Montoya's crash

The horrific crash into the truck loaded with over 200 gallons of jet fuel prompted the officials to delay the race by around 2 hours. After Montoya's Daytona run concluded 40 laps before the checkered flag dropped, his rival Matt Kenseth sealed his second Daytona 500 title.

Brad Keselowski shared real-time updates on Juan Pablo Montoya's wreck, the cleaning up of the track, the expected race restart time, and his views on the massive wreck. He shared the details on his X (formerly Twitter) account:

"Maybe the Mayans were right about 2012... #ConspiracyTheory @LewisFranck: I think only an alien invasion could be a topper tonight. #NASCAR"

Keselowski highlighted that only he's the one with a mobile phone in hand. He said (via The Washington Post):

“Nobody else has a phone. They should get one to see what is going on. They keep making fun for it, but I’m having a good time.”

The then 28-year-old Brad saw an exponential rise in his X (formerly Twitter) followers. From somewhere around 65000 people, Keselowski's account topped nearly 200,000 followers.