Two wrecks in the first two stages of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway set back a trio of Chase bubble drivers Friday night, ultimately leading to Brent Crews and William Sawalich missing the postseason.
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At Lap 27 of 100, Patrick Staropoli went around in Turn 3 after a push gone awry from Jeremy Clements, spinning up the track and collecting Chase contenders Brent Crews and Sam Mayer. Crews suffered heavy front-end damage after contacting Staropoli’s No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet. Mayer was hit from behind by Staropoli and slapped the outside wall.
Both Crews and Mayer came down pit road for repairs. Crews, driver of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Toyota, went to the garage before returning to the race 44 laps down. Mayer’s No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet kept rolling and stayed on the lead lap, finishing 25th to confirm a Chase spot after entering 19 points above the cutline.
At Lap 45, Anthony Alfredo and Corey Day made contact down the frontstretch, sending Sammy Smith around and into bubble driver William Sawalich and involving several others. Sawalich suffered massive front-end damage, forcing the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to the garage, where the team assessed his damage as terminal.
Ultimately, both Crews and Sawalich missed The Chase with their early misfortunes. They each entered Friday’s race just one point to the good over teammate Taylor Gray. Crews did not participate in four of the first six races due to age restrictions in his rookie season and fell short despite 12 top 10s in 20 events. Sawalich, meanwhile, did not qualify for the postseason for the second time in as many years.
