14 cars wiped out in Sprint Unlimited crash (Update)
02/14/15
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| NASCAR 'pack' racing resulted in wiping out over half the field |
| Getty Images for NASCAR |
Jamie McMurray got loose after contact from Greg Biffle and touched off the 'Big One' at Daytona International Speedway on Lap 45 of the Sprint Unlimited in an incident which affected more than half the 25-driver field.
Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Paul Menard, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola and Jimmie Johnson all suffered varying degrees of damage from the wreck.
The incident brought out a red flag, and crews were allowed to work on cars during that period due to it being an exhibition race.
However, the damage brought an end to the night of several drivers.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Involved in a multi-car accident on lap 45
WHAT DID YOU SEE HAPPEN?
“I didn’t see much there was so much smoke and then grass and stuff flying around. I didn’t see what started it. Then trying to get slowed down to avoid the crash there was so much debris on the track and oil coming off the cars that I had my tires locked up and slid by a bunch of people and thought I was going to miss it. Then just got into the back of the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) and knocked the radiator and oil cooler out of it. I hate that we tore up a car, but I got some good experience in the draft and understand my race car a lot better and make some changes to our (Daytona) 500 car."
WHAT WAS THE RACING LIKE OUT THERE? HOW WERE THE CARS HANDLING?
“Third row back there was a lot of action. It didn’t look like the lead was changing hands a ton, but man where I was it was a revolving door. I could be sitting in third or fourth and then be 15th and then back to third or fourth and then 15th. There was a lot of action going on in the middle of the pack with this rules package."
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET SS – Involved in a multi-car accident on lap 45
WHAT DID YOU SEE HAPPEN?
“I couldn’t really see I was towards the back and I was kind of waiting for something to happen. Once it did I was slowing down and then the track was dirty and it was hard to not lock the brakes. I would lock them and release then I would lock them and I just couldn’t really get slowed down enough. I don’t know what happened up front. It looked like the No. 1 (Jamie McMurray) went to the left, but I don’t really know why."
WHAT ABOUT THE HANDLING OF THE CARS AND HOW EVERYBODY FELT OUT THERE?
“It seemed like everybody felt pretty good, seemed real aggressive right from the start. My car felt pretty good. I would get loose every once in a while off of Turn 4, but really the majority of the race I felt really comfortable. It was pretty hectic there was a lot going on, if you got in the wrong row. I tried to follow Matt (Kenseth) up through there because he runs so well at these places and we ended up to the inside and got shuffled to the back and I was just thinking just wait for a little bit. But I felt like our Great Clips Chevy was fast enough to be up front we just needed to figure out how to get there."
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 PEAK/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – Involved in a multi-car accident on lap 45
WHAT DID YOU SEE HAPPEN?
“I think it was the No. 22 (Joey Logano) turned the No. 1 (Jamie McMurray) right in front of me. The No. 1 went across my nose and I thought he was going to keep going to the inside and then he hooked and came back across. I haven’t seen the rest of it, but got hit in pretty much all four corners multiple times I guess."
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT THE RACING WAS LIKE OUT THERE AND THE HANDLING OF THE CAR?
“The car started off pretty good and then towards the end of that first 25 lap section there a lot of guys were moving around. We really didn’t do a whole lot for adjustments. We took two tires and the car drove really good after that. The further back you get the worse it gets obviously. In the middle was a lot of speed but it was pretty hairy. It is going to be a wild race on Thursday."
DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING TONIGHT AFTER LEADING A FEW LAPS?
“Yeah, we are going to work on a couple of things for the (Daytona) 500 car. Tomorrow is qualifying so we are going to be single file pretty much the whole time, but Thursday is going to be wild. There is a lot at stake on Thursday for sure. We have a little work to do."
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – Involved in multi-car accident on lap 45:
(GREG) BIFFLE SAID ON THE RADIO AFTER THE INCIDENT THAT YOUR CAR LOOKED PRETTY LOOSE: "Well, it was when he had my back tires off the ground. It's hard to hang to. He was helping me, and it happened two or three times before. It is just part of it. When you get a big run like that you have to get to the guy and start pushing because if you don't, you lose all of your momentum. Everybody was racing really hard tonight, and it was actually a lot of fun out there. Our McDonald's Chevy was good. I really wanted to be on the top, but at one point I was able to make the bottom work. The No. 22 (Joey Logano) was working really well with me. When Greg got into the back of me, I just couldn't hang on to it any more.
“He (Greg Biffle) got into me a couple of times and got me out of control and I caught it. I just wasn’t’ able to save it there. When you’re the guy pushing, and you see a guy starting to spin in front you, you have to stay in the gas or you get involved in the wreck and I just wasn’t able to catch it. Our car was really quick tonight."
WHAT ABOUT THE LINES TONIGHT? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WERE IN A GOOD SPOT, LINE-WISE?
“Well, the top is the place to be. Especially at the beginning, I feel like the very outside was a good place. But I was able to make the bottom work as well. So, I think if you have a good car, you can make any of the lines work. But the outside is still the preferred groove. The No. 78 (Martin Truex, Jr.) was doing a really good job; I wouldn’t say blocking, but protecting the lead. Because once you break the plane of the guy’s bumper in front of you, it bogs him down and I was never able to get there when I was in second."
(GREG) BIFFLE SAID ON THE RADIO AFTER THE INCIDENT THAT YOUR CAR LOOKED PRETTY LOOSE:
"Well, it was when he had my back tires off the ground. It's hard to hang to. He was helping me, and it happened two or three times before. It is just part of it. When you get a big run like that you have to get to the guy and start pushing because if you don't, you lose all of your momentum. Everybody was racing really hard tonight, and it was actually a lot of fun out there. Our McDonald's Chevy was good. I really wanted to be on the top, but at one point I was able to make the bottom work. The No. 22 (Joey Logano) was working really well with me. When Greg got into the back of me, I just couldn't hang on to it anymore."