When you do crash (and you will, many times), you'll get a short slow motion vignette of the crash before it puts you back in the race (usually just ahead of where you crashed since you usually need an ample amount of speed to make certain jumps) a few seconds later. Obviously you don't want to crash, but I've had a few times where I crashed beside another racer and when I respawned, I was easily a few seconds ahead of him. I'm not sure if it was a bug or just one of ‘those spots', but it wasn't always consistent with how far ahead or behind it put me. http://naildbiter.com/UM1N8
Like to play racing games and watch live race events
