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More Than Half Of NASCAR Cup Series Field Collected In Crazy Atlanta Wreck

Jared Turner Written by Sports EditorJared Turner
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Denny Hamlin

Talladega and Daytona aren’t the only NASCAR Cup Series tracks where a multi-car crash can easily wipe out a large chunk of the field. After Saturday night, it’s official: EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) has its own version of “The Big One.”

How big was the melee that took place on Lap 70 of the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart? Twenty-three cars either spun, came to a virtual stop or received damage in the accident — triggered when Todd Gilliland’s Ford tagged the bumper of Denny Hamlin’s Toyota while running in the middle of a wad of cars all clumped together on the backstretch.

“Some zigged, some zagged, most crashed,” Hamlin said in describing the circumstances that led to the wreckage.

Atlanta Crash Victims Included Several Big Names In NASCAR Cup Series

The contact between Todd Gilliland and Denny Hamlin sent Hamlin’s No. 11 car across the race track in front of oncoming traffic, and it was nothing but carnage from there. Drivers caught up in the mess included polesitter Joey Logano, points leader William Byron, Pocono winner Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric, who had led 12 laps in his Team Penske Ford.

“It wrecked the whole field,” said Logano, the reigning and three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion. “I still don’t know exactly how it started. It was total chaos. Cars were sideways and on the brakes. I got hit from every corner possible. I was right in the middle of the whole thing.”

Before being eliminated, Logano led 51 laps in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

“It’s a real bummer,” he said. “What do you do? It’s just part of the game sometimes. It’s just the crappy part of our racing sometimes. You get caught up in something you couldn’t do anything about.”

A Few Drivers Somehow Got Lucky And Avoided Total Atlanta Disaster

Some NASCAR Cup Series drivers involved in the Atlanta melee — including Brad Keselowski (finished second), Alex Bowman (third) and Carson Hocevar (10th) — managed to continue on and rebound quite nicely.

Most were not so fortunate, however.

Count William Byron — a two-time Atlanta winner — among the not so fortunate group. In his case, there was nothing he could do to avoid being in the eye of the proverbial storm.

“They all stacked up and at that point, I went right a little bit,” said Byron, whose No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet suffered too much damage to repair. “The wreck was already happening, and I just kind of got shoved into it.

“It’s just a bummer that early in the race. I don’t really know what was going on. We were getting up to speed, and everyone was throwing a lot of blocks or something. I don’t know.”

Jared Turner Written by Sports EditorJared Turner
Jared Turner is a motorsports writer who has covered NASCAR for 20 years. He has interviewed over 20 NASCAR Hall of Famers and around 100 drivers, crew chiefs, and team owners, both past and present. He has also covered the sport for FOX Sports (where he was a two-time recipient of the FOX “X” Award for “Xtraordinary” job performance), NASCAR.com, Sporting News, NASCAR Pole Position Magazine, the SPEED network, and plenty of other online and print-only publications throughout his career. Notably, Jared has penned dozens of articles for NASCAR souvenir programs, including several featured prominently in Daytona 500 keepsakes. A Virginia Press Association award winner and former member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Jared has racked up accolades both for his writing and his academic work. He studied both Communication and Psychology at Virginia Tech, where he was permanently enshrined in Phi Beta Kappa — the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. Jared excels at feature writing and opinion writing, much of which stems from his dedication to all levels of racing.
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