CONCORD, N.C. — A big crash unfolded at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon and collected two of the Chase drivers.
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The incident occurred late in stage 1 as Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace raced for fifth place. Bowman raced on the inside while Wallace had the high line. Suddenly, Bowman's car shot to the right on corner exit and hit Wallace's car.
The No. 48 slammed into the outside wall and then rebounded into William Byron's No. 24, which happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Wallace's No. 23 hit the outside wall before sliding across the track and slamming into the inside wall.
Byron's car sustained significant damage, but he could still drive it. He took the car back to the garage for an evaluation. He could not continue in the race. Meanwhile, the safety crews attended to both Bowman and Wallace.
A massive crash brings Stage 1 to a close.
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Bowman climbed from his No. 48 after the crash, and he headed to the infield care center. Wallace remained in his car as the safety crew brought over a stretcher. Though he ultimately climbed from the car and walked to the ambulance under his own power.
"No warning. I saw it in the last second — the 48 (Alex Bowman) come up and clip us," Wallace said after exiting the infield care center. "No hard feelings. It's just racing. It's loose down there. I was starting to drop, and it gets into a tight spot.
"Him and I don't want to give up spots — or he wants to get by me — but for pit road's sake to keep our day smooth, we want to stay in front of him.
"He just got loose and got us, and the first hit wiped our brakes out, and so the second hit got me good. But we're good. Still got nine fingers and nine toes, so we're fine."
Bowman, for comparison, said that he had just gotten loose and over-corrected. He said that as soon as he touched the throttle, the car snapped. It caught him off-guard and led to the mistake.
