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Swarm of bees affects NASCAR qualifying at Auto Club Speedway

A swarm of bees forced NASCAR to relocate its flagman during Sprint Cup qualifying.

by Jordan Bianchi
Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

A swarm of bees invaded Auto Club Speedway on Friday, amassing on the frontstretch flag stand and necessitating NASCAR to remove its flagman for Xfinity Series practice and Sprint Cup qualifying

Fox Sports 1 showed the large swam congregating on a corner ledge in the flag stand several times during the second round of Xfinity practice, which preceded Cup qualifying. Because of the risk, NASCAR elected not to have a flagman positioned in the stand during either on-track session and relocated the flagger.

During Cup qualifying, FS1 cameras showed a beekeeper removing the swarm.

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