Fifteen cars involved in crash on Lap 47
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Nearly half the field scattered when the “Big One” erupted on Lap 47 of Sunday’s GEICO 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
The No. 6 of Trevor Bayne got loose and slid up into the outside wall coming out of Turn 2, then spun and collected 14 additional cars. Bayne’s car came to rest pinned against the outside wall.
“I haven’t seen it yet, but it looked like the No. 27 (of Paul Menard) just got too close to us,” Bayne said after being checked out in the infield care center. “I hate that a lot of cars got torn up, especially the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion. The air is so sensitive here. When you get too close to somebody, it just pulls you around.”
It appeared that the No. 41 car of Kurt Busch and the No. 27 of Paul Menard both got alongside the No. 6, possibly close enough to take the air off of the No 6, but no one made contact with Bayne.
Polesitter Jeff Gordon was the leader as cleanup crews worked to pick up the debris strewn across the track after displaying the red flag. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led 32 of the first 47 laps.
In addition to Bayne, those involved in the wreck were Kasey Kahne, who started the race on the front row with Gordon, Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, David Ragan, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Danica Patrick, Aric Almirola, Justin Allgaier, Brendan Gaughan, Matt DiBenedetto and Landon Cassill.
“I didn’t see a whole lot,” Larson said. “I saw the No. 6 (Trevor Bayne) get sideways in front of me. I don’t know if somebody got into him or not, or if he just got the air taken off of him. From there just trying to miss the wrecks, and I thought I was going to clear it all, then the No. 40 started coming back up the track and I clipped him. It’s tough.”