There were more than a few significant wrecks that stole the spotlight during Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
With two red flags and 18 cars being taken out of contention through crashes, the race became a matter of survival. Stage one was caution-free, but the remaining 96 laps of the Ag-Pro 300 at the 2.66-mile superspeedway beckoned trouble for a considerable portion of the 38-car field.
There were 10 caution flags brought out over the course of the race that took three hours and 33 seconds to complete.
The first red flag fluttered on lap 49 when Big Machine Racing’s Jade Buford, Our Motorsports’ Blaine Perkins and MBM Motorsports’ Dexter Stacey were involved in a wild incident on the backstretch.
After Stacey spun in front of the field and jutted across the track toward the inside wall, the movement caused a domino effect that forced Buford to make contact with Perkins. Perkins’ No. 02 Chevrolet launched into the air and rolled over six times while airborne before coming to rest on the backstretch. He climbed from the car on his own accord.
Buford and Stacey were taken to the in-field care center, while Perkins was transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation. The red flag lasted 11 minutes, 55 seconds.
Sammy Smith brought out the caution on lap 65, as he took a hard hit in No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He was also evaluated post-crash and later released from the in-field care center.
“I think the No. 9 (Brandon Jones) just got me. Not 100 percent sure, I haven’t seen it. We were having an okay day until then. Just kind of riding around. Long way to go and unfortunately just didn’t end up where we wanted,” Smith said.
John Hunter Nemechek was the next Joe Gibbs Racing driver to get out of line. On lap 83, the No. 20 Toyota spun from the top race line, slid across the track and slammed the driver’s side of the car into the inside wall at Talladega.
“I jumped for a minute to the top because I had a big run. I tried getting up there to work together with my teammate and when I slid up there, I got to the top lane and it just turned sideways. At that point, I’m just along for the ride. I guess I shouldn’t have jumped to the top like I did through the tri-oval. It was getting down to the end so I thought teammates needed to start working together,” Nemechek said.
Another major incident took place on lap 102 when Sam Mayer checked up to avoid the Toyota wheeled by Ryan Truex and was tapped from behind by his JR Motorsports teammate Josh Berry. Another JR Motorsports driver, Justin Allgaier, and Kaulig Racing’s Derek Kraus were also collected in the carnage.
The final red flag flew on lap 112 when Daniel Hemric attempted to block Sheldon Creed when the pair made contact, sending Hemric’s Kaulig Racing Chevrolet into the outside wall and sliding upside down through the tri-oval, triggering the second red flag of the event. Twelve total cars were involved.
Fortunately, Hemric was also able to climb out of the car on his own.
“Just got too far out it looks like,’’ Hemric said after watching his accident on video replay. “For sure late on the block there. I committed — there had been so much give and take on the day.’’
The red flag was out for 13 minutes, 53 seconds.