18-car accident sees AJ Allmendinger flip during NASCAR race at Talladega

Chase Elliott’s car lifted off the ground and AJ Allmendinger’s car completely flipped over in an accident that involved 18 drivers during Sunday’s NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Allmendinger was running third and directly behind Elliott when he tapped Elliott’s left-rear bumper, which turned the No. 24 car sideways and left Allmendinger with no means to avoid further contact. Elliott’s car got airborne before settling back on all four wheels, while Allmendinger’s No. 47 Chevrolet flipped on its roof.

“I barely tapped him,” Allmendinger said. “And then I tried to get off him but at that point it was too late. It was just one of those things battling for the lead.”

The accident occurred on the backstretch with 20 regulation laps remaining in the Geico 500. (The race would go into overtime due to a late caution.) NASCAR red flagged the race for nearly 27 minutes to remove the wreckage and clean away the debris.

“I don’t know that it was really (Allmendinger’s) fault, per se,” Elliott said. “He had a big run and he kind of got to my bumper and just happened to be in a bad spot coming up off the corner and was skewed a little bit to my left rear. And when that happens, it just unloads these cars too much.”

Among those collected in the wreck were contenders Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, and Trevor Bayne. After making repairs, Busch and Keselowski were able to continue and rallied to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.

Despite multi-car accidents being synonymous with racing at Talladega, one of two restrictor-plate tracks on the Cup schedule, this was the only “big one” on the afternoon.

“Got in a bad spot and then they started wrecking,” Truex said. “It’s a shame, it’s the way it goes here.”

Because of limited horsepower, races at Talladega and Daytona International Speedway see drivers largely unable to separate from one another. Large packs of cars then form, often resulting in accidents like the one that occurred on Sunday.

“It’s Talladega,” Allmendinger said. “I’m not a big fan of it, but if you’re up front and you’ve got a chance to go for it, racing happens I guess, here.”