Anyone who has watched a NASCAR race at Talladega Superspeedway knows it can often be confusing. Forty cars are within inches of each other at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour and one mistake often results in a major crash. But it reached new heights Sunday after a 28-car wreck destroyed the entire field, forcing NASCAR to stop the race altogether and raise a red flag.
A leader’s mistake led to a massive 28-car crash at Talladega NASCAR
The accident occurred with five laps to go when former series champion Brad Keselowski, assisted by fellow former series champion and former teammate Joey Logano, accidentally spun leader Austin Cindric.
Cindric spun out of control, swerving right and left, gathering almost all the drivers behind him. “After the race, everybody’s going to be aggressive,” Logano said. “Number 2 (Cindric) put in a little more effort than we have done so far. #21 (Harrison Burton) pushed me and I traded him for #6 (Keselowski). From there you cannot see what is in front of you. “He held on to second place. It’s nobody’s fault, it’s not Brad’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault. These are the results of our competition. As the rounds progress, things get more aggressive. It happens. “It happens a lot.”
This happens often. The term “massive” was often used to describe multi-vehicle crashes at Talladega and other superspeedway-style tracks. But Sunday was the biggest wreck. The previous record for most cars involved in a single crash in the current NASCAR era was 27. The crash was especially significant for Cindric and Logano, who are still competing in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. If you win, Cindric automatically advances to the next round. Despite being eight points clear of the playoffs, Logano was 13 points behind the playoffs at the time of the incident. Now the two have one more race to look forward to next week in Charlotte. Cindric managed to win this race. Logano will have to find a way to get past eighth-ranked Chase Elliott.
