On lap 11 of the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Bubba Wallace was trying to draft his good friend Ryan Blaney to the front of the pack. However, the No. 43 car locked bumpers with the No. 12. As a result, Wallace spun across the front of the field collecting several cars in the process.
First caution of the day. Wallace, Harvick, Hamlin, Bowyer and McDowell all involved. pic.twitter.com/APMTcgVW8O
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 28, 2019
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“The amount of runs that we are getting and the force of it. All I was trying to do was some wreck avoidance,” Wallace explained. “The last car I want to wad up the 12 that’s the last car I want to wad up out there. Had such a big run on him. When [Logano] pulled up on him he checked up a little bit. I went to go to the bottom where I was safe. I don’t know if I crossed his bumper or whatever but it got him wigled down and shoved me even farther down than I wanted to go. So I went back up just to stay off the apron and it just unloaded.”
In an instant, Wallace’s race was ended.
But he wasn’t the only one. Kevin Harvick also was knocked out as were Front Row Motorsports teammates Michael McDowell and Matt Tifft.
For Harvick, he had just made the decision to head back to the front when the accident occurred.
“I really thought — I went to the back at the start and thought that was going to happen several times throughout today,” Harvick said. “I got myself back there. It looked pretty tame so I decided to go back to the front. I drove back up there fairly easily and then I don’t really know what happened. They all wrecked. I slowed down. Somebody hit me in the door and I hit the wall.”
Other drivers who suffered damage on lap 11 included: Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer.
