Thankfully, everyone is okay after a vicious crash in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway.
On lap 49 of the race, Kyle Busch, who won Stage 1, had a right rear tire go soft. This caused the No. 18 car to slow on the track. As Busch slowed, Ross Chastain had nowhere to go and made contact with Busch.
The contact sent Chastain launching into the air and nearly flipped over as a result of the impact. Chastain skidded up the track and slammed into Chase Elliott.
Elliott then went hard into the wall as well.
Ross Chastain slams into Kyle Busch at Texas and launches off the No. 18 car. Wow. He's okay. pic.twitter.com/3QSt8GdPVj
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 23, 2022
And here is a replay:
Ross Chastain gets airborne after slamming into Kyle Busch during the #AllStarRace at Texas. He's okay. pic.twitter.com/fUqkdNr7Oc
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 23, 2022
And one last angle from the stands, courtesy of the NASCAR Twitter account:
We're thankful for the safety of these Next Gen cars. pic.twitter.com/NuzgMVbGPL
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 23, 2022
According to NASCAR on FOX’s Mike Joy, Chastain was running 185 mph when he made contact with Busch, who was running around 125 mph.
Busch was noticeably frustrated after exiting the infield care center following the crash. Busch had the dominant car until the tire let go on lap 48.
“Just got a flat tire off of [turn] 4. Right rear was flat,” Busch stated. “Unfortunate for our guys. Everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota M&M’s, we had a really fast race car, great race car. Led all of the laps to that point, obviously. Disappointing to not be able to finish it out and go race for the million bucks.”
Did he see Chastain coming?
“No,” Busch said.
An understandably frustrated Kyle Busch, the winner of Stage 1 at Texas, talks with @vincewelch after a wild crash with Ross Chastain in the #AllStarRace. pic.twitter.com/q8lVQtDtgR
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 23, 2022
What did Chastain see?
“Felt like the driver of the 1 car chose the wrong lane to go,” Chastain quipped. “Our Worldwide Express car was tight all night and just managing the tightness. Saw Kyle have an issue, like a tire down. I guessed left and I should have guessed right. Big hits.”
"Felt like the driver of the 1 car chose the wrong lane to go."
Talking with Ross Chastain after his scary crash in the NASCAR #AllStarRace at Texas: https://t.co/s3bmDlovHw pic.twitter.com/MnyDHoV4xF
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 23, 2022
Elliott is done for the night as well, and he’s a little upset with himself as he felt he could have missed being involved.
“I saw the 18 had a problem. Then I saw the 1 hit him really hard and I just didn’t give him enough room to — I knew he was going to go straight. I just didn’t know he was going to go that far right that quick,” Elliott explained. “I just misjudged it. Really avoidable on my end, I just messed up.”
