A 19-car crash occurred on Saturday afternoon on Naval Base Coronado, which broke the concrete wall and brought out the red flag.
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The incident occurred on Lap 35 of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race. The field headed through Turn 1 two-wide after taking the green flag on a restart. Suddenly, Sam Mayer's Chevrolet shot to the left from the second row. It veered into another car and slammed nose-first into the outside wall.
This impact broke the wall, creating a major safety concern. Meanwhile, nearly two dozen cars slammed into the incident. They tried to stop but could not. Some appeared to hit fluid that leaked from wrecked cars while others just didn't have the braking power.
BIG crash after the restart with @sam_mayer_ hitting the wall hard. pic.twitter.com/JL9k9XpJmM
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) June 20, 2026
According to NASCAR, the crash collected Mayer, Anthony Alfredo, William Sawalich, Dean Thompson, Leland Honeyman Jr., Jesse Love, Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton, Brennan Poole, Harrison Burton, Preston Pardus, Alex Labbe, Austin Green, Sammy Smith, Brent Crews, Sheldon Creed, Corey Day, Justin Allgaier, Jeremy Clements, and Rajah Caruth.
The majority of these drivers continued in the race. Alfredo, Mayer, and Sawalich all had to head to the infield care center. Thompson headed to the garage for repairs.
Mayer, who had the hardest hit, immediately came over the radio and called himself one of the worst race car drivers to ever touch the sport.
The reason for this comment is that he had just made a mistake that sparked the massive crash. The replay showed that he clipped the inside of the Turn 1 wall while trying to race for position.
"I just want to say sorry to everybody in the field," Mayer said after exiting the infield care center. "I'm looking at the people who are involved in the crash and it's literally everybody. So, just sorry to all the people that have to put work in now because of my mistake.
"Just brutal. I definitely hate that for everybody. The Audibel Chevy was really good today and... I mean, what am I doing? I got to be better. I got to be a lot better."
Mayer added that he now has to go through the entire garage to apologize to everyone. It will be part of the learning process, and it won't be a fun experience.
Red flag to repair the wall that Sam Mayer hit pic.twitter.com/is2BnYQHEs
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) June 20, 2026
This crash brought out the red flag as NASCAR had to repair the broken wall. The red flag lasted 43 minutes and 10 seconds as multiple pieces of heavy equipment moved onto the racing surface.
This crash marked the second time that officials displayed the red flag during the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race. The first incident happened in the opening stage.
A manhole cover broke free and went through the grille on Day's Chevrolet. Track crews had to repair the hole in the racing surface and then go check the other manhole covers around the course.
