Chaos struck early on the Daytona International Speedway.
Only 14 laps after the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series, Daytona 500, a major accident brought several cars out of motion.
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Christopher Bell’s no. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has Aric Almirola’s no. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford went to press, when a run started to form in the inline. The cars were not properly aligned, and Bell’s hug eventually turned Almirola. The no. 10 went up the track and caused a congestion with 16 cars, first collecting wrist Alex Bowman in the number 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and then many others. Bell continues.
“We pushed just too hard too early,” Almirola said of the pressure he felt at the end of the back line. “It’s a long, long race. Man, we were in a good position, just sat there and drove around in the top two, three and the 20 (Bell) just came up with a big run and hit me really hard in a bad spot and it got me turned right and tore up our race car and ended our Daytona 500 completely too early. ”
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Bowman, who was the frontrunner for the second time in his cup series, said: ‘It looks like the no. 10 (Almirola) turned sideways there and I was the man who came across. Bummer – I hate it for Ally. Obviously we had a very fast Camaro. The Chevrolets worked well together; hopefully a Chevy still ends up in Victory Lane. Hat for everyone at Hendrick Motorsports; they built some very fast race cars. Hate that superspeedway racing sometimes works out that way, but that’s just part of the game. ”
Those involved in the wreck: Bell, Almirola, Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, David Ragan, Anthony Alfredo and Daniel Suarez.
Newman was in his first Daytona 500 since a serious accident at the end of last season’s Great American Race, but his no. 6 Roush Fenway Ford was one of the early starting points on a wreck.
“Someone crashed into the outside drive in front of us and we had nowhere to go, and I was hit from somewhere,” Newman said. ‘I missed the wreck but got hit from somewhere and it was the end of our day. I just feel bad that Kohler Generators jumps on board and drops out of the Daytona 500 so early, but that’s unfortunately part of racing. I just wish we could have gotten better results. ”
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Almirola, Bowman, Suarez, Ragan, Newman, Jones and Derrike Cope – along the sidelines of a previous incident – are listed for the rest of the race.
Almirola was second before the domino disaster. Kevin Harvick saw the melee in his no. 4 SHR Ford’s rearview mirror unfolds in front of him. He took the lead as the yellow flag switched to red due to lightning in the Daytona Beach, Florida, area.