With less than 20 laps remaining in the 56th Annual Snowball Derby, the frontstretch of Five Flags Speedway looks like a parking lot, after a multi-car accident on a late-race restart.
The accident began directly behind the race leaders when Noah Gragson missed a shift in his No. 30 Ford for Rette Jones Racing, which began stacking up the vehicles behind, triggering a pileup that collected upwards of 10 drivers.
The big one strikes in the 56th Annual Snowball Derby at @5FlagsSpeedway. Watch the remaining laps now on https://t.co/S4MfBeKHSa pic.twitter.com/AZ3Sa5W1dS
— Racing America (@RacingAmerica) December 3, 2023
That poor restart caused a major stack-up, in which Derek Thorn tipped Gragson in front of the entire pack, causing damage to Cole Butcher, and then making major contact with William Byron and Jake Finch, amongst several others.
Other drivers involved in the accident included NASCAR Cup Series winners William Byron and Erik Jones, as well as NASCAR Pinty’s Series champion Treyten Lapcevich, along with Hunter Robbins, William Sawalich, Jace Hansen, Travis Hinde, amongst others.
Gragson took the blame for the incident afterward, saying that he missed a shift and ultimately caused the massive pileup that ensued behind him.
