Danica Patrick, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson were among those collected into a 14-car pileup in the early laps of Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Talladega ‘Big One’ knocks out several contenders
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The accident began on Lap 47 when Trevor Bayne, running eighth and positioned in the middle groove, broke loose and spun off Turn 2. As Bayne pounded the outside wall, the field stacked up behind him with several drivers darting towards the infield portion in an effort to avoid the carnage, including Patrick, who narrowly missed several cars.
No drivers were injured. NASCAR issued a red flag lasting 11 minutes allowing safety workers to clean up the track.
“I don’t think I’ve been sideways on the backstretch and headed towards the inside wall and never hit anything,” Patrick radioed to her team.
The cars of Patrick, Harvick and Logano were among those that sustained minimal damage and continued on. Larson, Kasey Kahne and David Ragan all suffered heavy damage and were taken to the garage for repairs.
“The air is so sensitive here,” Bayne said. “Anytime when you get too close to somebody it can just pull you right around and it’s as much as hitting somebody physically when you get down on their door that tight and it’s just gonna happen.”
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