A massive Lap 2 tangle in the middle of the pack thinned the field and forced an early red flag in Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway.
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A side-by-side battle with Ryan Preece and Todd Gilliland that went awry snared nine cars in the pileup, including former All-Star winners Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney. Preece’s No. 60 RFK Racing Ford burst into flames as it skidded to a stop.
“I must have just come down on Todd going into Turn 1, and I got sideways from that,” Preece said after an evaluation at Dover’s infield care center, “so that pushed an issue that I probably shouldn’t have pushed that lap, and we’ll move forward to next week.”
Gilliland’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford and the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet driven by Cole Custer were sidelined before the race resumed. Several other teams involved went to work on repairs in the garage, aiming to compete in the final 200-lap segment.
MORE: In-car views, replays of early wreck
“I knew the group in front of me was three-wide, and from what I’ve seen, it kind of seems like someone just got tight, someone got turned,” said Blaney after a check at the infield care center while his No. 12 Team Penske crew made repairs, “and I thought I missed the main wreck that kind of happened above me, and then I guess some other guys got tangled underneath, and then came back up into me.”
The event, held at the “Monster Mile” for the first time, was stopped for 13 minutes and 26 seconds with two laps showing on the leaderboard. Others listed as involved on the official race report were Chase Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Suárez and Michael McDowell.
Blaney and Larson were both able to return with repairs in time for the 200-lap final segment. Suárez advanced to the last portion of the All-Star Race by winning the Fan Vote berth.
The Cup Series returns to points-paying action Sunday with the crown jewel Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).