After a pileup on the seventh lap of the Daytona 500, the NASCAR Cup Series field has done a terrific job in keeping their noses clean and avoiding ‘The Big One’, a nasty, multi-car pileup that happens every time we visit a superspeedway.
But, with seven laps remaining – in regulation – for the NASCAR Cup Series season-opener at Daytona, the field has made up for it in an incredible way, with a 23-car pileup taking out several heavy-hitters and strong cars.
The wreck started at the front of the pack when an awry bump from Alex Bowman got William Byron sideway while in the middle of a three-wide situation. Byron was unable to keep his Axalta Chevrolet off of both cars, clipping Brad Keselowski in the right rear of his No. 6 Ford Mustang.
As I’m sure you can imagine, when that occurs in front of a pack of 30-plus vehicles, there is going to be a major accident. That’s exactly what happened when the No. 6 came up the racetrack and clogged up the entire outside lane.
#TobyTracker has 23 drivers involved in this HUGE late-race crash with seven laps to go in the #Daytona500.
Involved: 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 31, 38, 41, 43, 45, 47, 48, 54, 62, 99#NASCAR
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) February 20, 2024
Among those involved was Joey Logano, who to that point in the event had led a race-high 45 laps in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang. Logano, who sat on the pole for ‘The Great American Race’, would be forced to retire from the event.
Others involved, with varying degrees of damage include Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Noah Gragson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Martin Truex, Jr., Christopher Bell, Daniel Hemric, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Preece, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse, Ty Gibbs, Anthony Alfredo, and Daniel Suarez.
While some of those drivers were able to continue with some damage to their vehicles, there were quite a few – seven to be exact – that were unable to continue with the heavy damage they had, including Reddick, Blaney, Stenhouse, Logano, Keselowski, Suarez, and Gilliland.
Now, as the field resets with less than five laps remaining, there will be about 30 vehicles on the racetrack, only 25 of which will sit on the lead lap with a chance to win the 2024 Daytona 500.
