At Nascar's 2013 visit to Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, an unlikely participant cruised into Victory Lane. David Ragan, who had won only one Sprint Cup race previous to Sunday's Aarons 499, was first to drive under the checkered flag at a race marred with red flags and drivers seeing red.
The race was delayed for a short time for rain at the racetrack, causing Nascar officials to wave the drivers in under the red flag. Other than Ragan's win, the 2013 run at Talladega will likely be remembered for the automotive carnage strewn across the track at one point. Driver Kyle Busch may have added to his base of disapproving fans after he caused a 16-car wreck partway through the Aarons 499 at Talladega.
Nascar-on-FOX' play-by-play announcer Mike Joy interrupted his familiar rundown of fan-favorite car positions on the racetrack to declare that Kyle Busch drove into the rear fender of Kasey Kahne. The contact sent Kahne into the outside wall of Turn 2. The two drivers slid downward across the famously banked racetrack and collided with numerous other drivers, including veterans Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick.
"Huge crash! Unbelievable crash!" exclaimed color announcer Larry McReynolds when Joy pointed out the wreckage-in-progress, across the racetrack from the grandstands. Racecars fishtailed and smoke billowed from the corner of the track which McReynolds was describing.
Following the initial chain reaction crash, television viewers were shown in-car camera footage from a number of those involved, including from the vantage point of driver Casey Mears. Mears appeared relatively helpless as a sliding car made contact with Mears' hood at a near perpendicular angle, as he attempted to steer clear of the other hapless driver. The impact sent Mears similarly skidding out of control toward the infield.
Kurt himself was involved in a crash during the closing laps of the race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. attempted to pass J.J. Yeley in a narrow space against the wall and didn't make it through the gap. Stenhouse, Jr., sent Yeley down the track, running into Marcos Ambrose. Soon, Kurt Busch's car flipped onto his side from an impact. Busch's car righted itself by colliding with that of Ryan Newman, and landing on top of Newman's car. "Ryan Newman's had cars on top of him before," Joy quipped, as Newman's totaled racecar slid into the infield.
Though somewhat unclear, there is widespread disapproval for Kyle Busch among the NASCAR faithful. "I just don't like him. He's cocky," said a fan at last year's Pocono 400 in Long Pond, Pa., during which Kyle Busch was routinely booed, and fan favorites Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. routinely cheered as they passed the grandstands.
Nascar Sprint Cup racers now begin gearing up for the Bojangles Southern 500, being held Saturday in Darlington, S.C. See below for videos of the two wrecks.
See KURT BUSCH on his side here:
See KYLE BUSCH's chain reaction crash here:
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