A bump draft from Brad Keselowski on Lap 5 shot John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota Camry down into the side of Harrison Burton’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse on the frontstretch.
The contact sent Burton around, and he tangled with Carson Hocevar. Burton and Hocevar would skid through the very wet grass in the Daytona International Speedway infield, and the two drivers would skid back up into the pack of cars zooming by.
Ryan Preece would be involved heavily, while Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, Kaz Grala were also involved.
Here is a video of the incident that brought out the first caution of the 2024 Daytona 500 as it happened live on FOX:
Here is the look of the first caution of the #Daytona500 as it happened live on FOX: pic.twitter.com/iqB4JmFa1a
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) February 19, 2024
And here are some replay angles of the crash:
And here are some replays of the incident. Involved in this crash were: Keselowski, Nemechek, Burton, Hocevar, Preece, Johnson, Grala, and Austin Dillon: pic.twitter.com/08OgZIBKkV
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) February 19, 2024
Here are some incredible shots of the incident, which were snapped by TobyChristie.com photographer Craig White:
#NASCAR: Harrison Burton, Kaz Grala, and Carson Hocevar are out of the #Daytona500, after getting involved in a seven-car accident on Lap 6.
Ryan Preece, Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, and John Hunter Nemechek were also involved.
?: Craig White, @TobyChristieCom pic.twitter.com/y6uJial9EQ
— TobyChristie.com (@TobyChristieCom) February 19, 2024
The crash spelled the end of the day for Burton, Hocevar, and Grala.
Jimmie Johnson and Austin Dillon lost laps while undergoing repairs for damage sustained in the crash.
After being evaluated in the infield care center, Burton says he still isn’t quite sure what happened, but thought he would be fine when he spun into the infield grass. Unfortunately, the massive amount of rain this week made the infield grass essentially a slip-and-slide for he and Hocevar.
“I don’t remember exactly who it was on my outside. It just looked like they either got a bad push or got loose and just hit me in the right side and sent me across,” Burton explained. “The grass was so wet that once I got in the grass I thought I’d be OK, but the car just kept going and going, so really sad that our day is over as quick as it was. We had a really fast DEX Imaging/Motorcraft Ford Mustang. It’s just a bummer. There’s nothing we can do but just move on and try to win next week.”
