The restrictor plate races are known for having big wrecks, and the Sprint Unlimited was no exception on Saturday night. The wreck known as the big one would strike the event on lap 47 of 75.
Jamie McMurray would get a tap from Greg Biffle in the behind, swing down towards the apron off of the track, before coming back up across the track and into the path of field.
“Jamie was loose there, wiggling all over the place,” Biffle commented post-wreck.
“Well, it was when he had my back tires off of the ground,” McMurray fired back. “It was hard to hang on it when someone is right there. It’s part of it. It’s just hard to get off of a guy when you get there because of the run that you had there. I had a good run going there with the 27, but when the 16 got there, I just couldn’t hang on to it.”
In total, 11 drivers, beyond McMurray and Biffle would find themselves involved when the dust settled. Many of the drivers were able to continue, but it resulted in the end of the night for some. Clint Bowyer was one of the drivers that saw his night end, commenting afterwards that the cars would really suck up well and he was just trying to make his way back up towards the front with Denny Hamlin.
“I saw a car spinning…and then I hit it,” he added. “I was going to go through the grass, but these cars don’t like the grass that much.”
Hamlin also found himself done for the race and commented afterwards that he felt the wreck was coming.
“It was just a matter of time that we were going to wreck,” Hamlin shared. “We were aggressively driving from the lap 1 – been a long time since I seen people be that aggressive. I got some awesome hang time there. We were stuck there in the middle and that’s where a lot of these wrecks start.”
Paul Menard thought that he was going to be able to miss it, but was left with nowhere to go and done for the night when McMurray came back up across the track.
“I hit him, and got hit another 14 times,” Menard commented. “The car was fast. We made some adjustments and the car got better. we learned some things for tomorrow.”
Of the rest of the drivers involved, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kevin Harvick were able to continue, while Aric Almirola, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne were done for the night. Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and Stenhouse found themselves caught up in another wreck later on during the night, while Kyle Busch finished eighth with Harvick 11th.
RT @OnPitRoad_: NSCS: Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray Contact Triggers The Big One in Sprint Unlimited by @ladybug388 http://t.co/DZM8kVylCK