Chaos struck the Daytona International Speedway.
With just 14 laps in the opening Daytona 500 of the NASCAR Cup Series 2021 season, a major accident took several cars out of the race.
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Christopher Bell’s 20th Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was pushing Aric Almirola’s 10th Stewart-Haas Racing Ford when a race started to form on the inside line. The cars were not aligned properly, so Bell’s nudge ended up turning Almirola. No. 10 went up the track and caused a 16-car pileup that first caught pole-sitter Alex Bowman at No. 48 at Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and then at many others. Bell continued.
“We were being pressured very early,” said Almirola of the pressure he felt at the end of the final stretch. “It is a very, very long race. Dude, we were in a good position, just sitting there walking between the first two, three and 20 (Bell) came in with a big run and hit me very hard in a bad place and turned me to the right and tore our car away. race and finished our Daytona 500 very early. “
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Bowman said he was the pole-starter for the second time in his career in the Cup Series: “It looks like No. 10 (Almirola) kind of turned on his side there and I was the guy who hit him. What a bore – I hate it for Ally. Obviously, we had a very fast Camaro. Chevrolets worked well together; I hope a Chevy still ends up on Victory Lane. We took our hats off to everyone at Hendrick Motorsports; they built some really fast racing cars. I hate super speed racing to work that way sometimes, but that’s only part of the game. “
Those involved in the wreck: Bell, Almirola, Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, David Ragan, Anthony Alfredo and Daniel Suarez.
Newman was in his first Daytona 500 since a serious accident at the end of the Great American Race last season, but his No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford was one of the first outings on a wrecker’s hook.
“Someone fell in the outer row in front of us and we had nowhere to go and I was hit from somewhere,” said Newman. “I missed the wreck, but I was hit from somewhere and it was the end of our day. I only feel bad about Kohler Generators jumping on board and being destroyed from the Daytona 500 so soon, but unfortunately that is part of the races. I just wish we could have some better results. “
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Almirola, Bowman, Suarez, Ragan, Newman, Jones and Derrike Cope – excluded by a previous incident – are listed as out for the rest of the race.
Almirola ran in second place before the domino disaster. Kevin Harvick watched the confusion unfold in front of his No. 4 SHR Ford rearview mirror. He holds the lead when the yellow flag changed to red due to lightning in the Daytona Beach, Florida area.