A massive Stage 2 crash dropped several drivers from contention in Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race, erupting midpack at Daytona International Speedway.
Contact between the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet of Corey LaJoie and the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Noah Gragson ignited a severe pileup in the 60th of 160 scheduled laps in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400. Several cars stacked up in the backstraight tangle, including playoff-bubble hopeful Ross Chastain, Daytona 500 champ William Byron and three-time Daytona winner Denny Hamlin.
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NASCAR’s official count showed 16 drivers on the full list of drivers involved: Gragson, Chastain, Byron, Hamlin, LaJoie, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Preece, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Christopher Bell and John Hunter Nemechek. Drivers unable to continue were: Elliott, Gragson, Hamlin and Preece.
The melee figured to shuffle the chase for the circuit’s Regular Season Championship, with points leader Reddick and second-place Elliott and third-place Larson all involved.
“I’m not really sure,” Hamlin said after a check at the infield care center. “Everyone was saving gas, so I didn’t really think anyone was being too aggressive, but the first thing I saw was the 7 (LaJoie) got turned in front of me.”
Said Gragson: “I was trying to get away from the 1 (Chastain) in the middle line. I was pushing him, and I pushed him a couple times, and he just couldn’t take a push. He was super squirrely, and I didn’t feel comfortable pushing him just because he was out of shape by himself. I was trying to get out of that middle line. I haven’t seen what happened yet, but I don’t know if the 7 got into me or what. I can’t comment on it yet, but I’m just disappointed.”
The Daytona event is the next-to-last race in the Cup Series regular season. The 16-driver postseason field will be determined after next Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at Darlington Raceway.