The 2021 Daytona 500 did not even take 15 laps without suffering a big crash.
Christopher Bell’s push on Aric Almirola took out a series of cars on lap 15 of Sunday’s race. The accident occurred less than five minutes before the race received the red flag due to lightning storms that approached the Daytona International Speedway.
With the rain coming, it made a lot of sense for the riders to run patiently before the inevitable rain delay. After all, the Daytona 500 has 200 laps. Instead, the drivers were aggressive from the start and a push from Kyle Busch to Bell led to a push from Bell to Almirola and Almirola’s car was hooked on Alex Bowman. The great thing happened from there.
Martin Truex Jr., William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Matt Dibenedetto, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray were among the 16 cars involved in the accident.
“We were being pressured very early,” said Almirola.
It was an accident that made little sense given the context of the race. Sunday’s race started with a series of storms approaching Daytona Beach and the gray clouds coming from the west were evidence of the increasing possibility of rain.
“I’ve never met a driver who said, ‘Hey, I’m going to start this 500-mile race and be super aggressive,'” said David Ragan after suffering an accident. “We all talk about giving and receiving and getting to the end, but it seems like no one does that after they start.”
Still, drivers drove side by side with each other and struggled as if they were on the finish line on lap 15. While it was understandable that drivers wanted to control their cars and how they were racing with each other, aggression did not make sense while was happening. And it especially doesn’t make sense in hindsight.
Overhang writing is an accepted part for passes and runs in Daytona and Talladega. But it also has its time and place. And there are 16 or more riders who definitely think lap 15 was not the time for bumps.
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