Talladega often brings the usual twists, turns and calamities that are associated with restrictor plate racing, but this might take the cake.
“The Big One” always lingers, waiting to rear its head as cars fly around the 2.66-miler at almost 200 mph in incredibly tight confines. And as Monday’s 1000Bulbs.com 500 neared the closing laps, it seemed almost inevitable the pack was not going to be able get through the final laps cleanly.
Spolier: They didn’t.
But it was the leaders that sparked a massive pile up heading into Turn 3 with seven laps remaining that brought out the red flag.
Kyle Busch was charging through the middle, with brother Kurt Busch pushing Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on his inside and Brendan Gaughan leading the outside lane.
Kurt Busch’s bump draft got Kyle’s No. 18 a little squirrelly and sent him into Gaughan, triggering a massive wreck that sent Gaughn’s No. 62 into the air and completing a full barrel roll before landing back on its wheels.
Take a look:
Unbelievable.
