Late-race wrecks par for course at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – There have been eight Daytona 500s where only one car finished on the lead lap.
After a series of late wrecks Sunday evening, it felt like the 61st running of NASCAR’s season-opening, and biggest, race would be the ninth before things settled down at Daytona International Speedway with Denny Hamlin claiming his second Daytona 500.
Hamlin was one of 14 drivers to finish on the lead lap. Nineteen cars in the 40-car field were able to complete the overtime period that stretched the race an extra 17.5 miles, but Sunday’s chaos saw the fewest number of cars finish the 500 since 18 were left in 1985.
“It’s incredible to me how many times we were able to crash in the last 10 laps,” said Jamie McMurray, the 2010 Daytona 500 champion who was collected in the final wreck of the night. “When the Daytona 500 is on the line, people are willing to take big risks. They just all waited to the end.”
There were three cautions, including two red flags that halted the race, from laps 192-200, which forced the race into overtime. “The Big One,” a crash common thanks to restrictor plates used at Daytona that zap horsepower, collected a total of 21 cars and led to a 25-minute delay for cleanup. That wrecked knocked 10 cars out.
The two aftershocks, also in Turn 3, that followed involved a total of 16 more cars. All of the drivers who wrecked were evaluated and released from the infield care center.
“Brains come unglued,” said Kyle Busch, who finished second as he sought his first Daytona 500 win. “That’s all it is. The brain connection from right up here to the gas pedal foot doesn’t quite work the same anymore. There’s a lot of give and take and a lot of guys that play the game and race the race throughout the beginning portion of the races, and then it comes down to the end. You know, that’s just the fact of the matter. I think I’ve been caught up in plenty of those. It was nice to be in front of all of that tonight.”
Pole-sitter William Byron was among a small group of drivers to get caught in two of the three late-race wrecks. “We were in a great spot to contend for the win and just all hell broke loose,” said Byron, who finished 21st after he was knocked out for good on the final wreck.
His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson’s car was put two laps down before the late mayhem. He lost a good portion of the back of his No. 48 Chevy when Tyler Reddick’s car, which a moment earlier had been slammed by Cody Ware, hit Johnson on pit road on lap 160.
“I’ve never been hit like that on pit lane,” Johnson said. “That was the start of the craziness. I don’t know if that kept us out of trouble and got us a good finish or what, but certainly not something that we were anticipating.”
Johnson, who had a new crew chief (Kevin Meendering) atop his pit box, went two laps down as his fuel hose was left exposed and swayed like a bobblehead the rest of the race. Because of the late cautions, Johnson was able to get back on the lead lap and finish ninth.
“Getting those two laps back, working on the car multiple times, multiple crashes, for a first true race together as a group, a really, really brilliant day,” Johnson said.
Chip Ganassi Racing Kyle Larson was involved in three wrecks but was able to finish seventh. “My car is super beat up, so to come away with a top-10 is pretty cool,” Larson said.