Hamlin, McMurray and Johnson among drivers caught in wreck
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It was inevitable, according to Denny Hamlin.
“I just didn’t think it would happen this early,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said.
It wasn’t the first accident of the night, but the multi-car wreck that swept up Hamlin along with more than half the 25-car field certainly put a dent in Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway.
“I checked up and whoever was behind me got in the back of me,” Hamlin, winner of the 2014 edition of the non-points race, said after exiting the infield care center. “It was just a train wreck and you really can’t help it when you’re in the middle of the pack like that. It’s pretty high risk. … Once we got to the front, we got hung out again and it’s just a lot of side-drafting, a lot of blocking going on.”
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The Lap 45 incident began when contact from behind turned Jamie McMurray’s Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet on the frontstretch. Running third at the time, McMurray had most of the field behind him; when his red No. 1 entry spun low, then back into traffic, few had room to avoid contact.
Along with Hamlin and McMurray, others caught up in the fray were Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth.
Hamlin, Menard, Kahne and Johnson made the mandatory trip to the care center but were not injured. Others made it to the garage before calling it a night, while a fortunate few were able to make repairs and rejoin the field.
The incident led to the first of two red-flag periods for the 75-lap event, and halted the action for nearly 15 minutes.
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Told that Biffle said he thought McMurray’s car “looked a little loose,” McMurray countered: “Well, it was when he had my back tires off the ground. It’s hard to hang on to.”
But, McMurray added, “It’s just part of it. When you get a big run like that you have to get to the guy and start pushing because if you don’t you lose all of your momentum.”
Johnson, the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, said he “slid by a bunch of people and thought I was going to miss it.
“I just got in back of the 11 (of Hamlin) and knocked the radiator and oil cooler out of it,” he said. “I hate that we tore up a car but I got some good experience in the draft, understand my race car a lot better and (we’ll) make our car better for the 500.”
The racing, for what he saw of it, “was intense,” Hamlin said.
“I thought it was as intense as any speedway race we’ve seen in a long time from beginning to end. This race last year … got single file at some point. This one it just never did. It’s just so aggressive trying to keep that track position.
“I don’t know if the (Daytona) 500 will be like, it’s 500 miles, but certainly you’re gong to see a situation like this.”
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