Photo Credit: Stephanie McLaughlin/OnPitRoad.com
Early in the race, before the competition caution was slated to come out, Brad Keselowski ran right into the No. 24 of Chase Elliott at the exit of the quad-oval and entrance of turn one. The incident started at the entrance of the quad-oval when Jeffrey Earnhardt seemed to have lost an engine and his No. 33 car began throwing parts onto the track.
One of those pieces went through the front of Elliott’s machine and the car began to emit oil all over the front stretch before the car went aflame at the entrance of turn one. Elliott seemed to come to a complete stop as Keselowski came barreling into turn one slamming right into the No. 24 destroying both cars putting out two of the contenders for the victory.
“I saw parts and pieces flying, I don’t know if he blew a tire or something and I ended up hitting something that he had on track. I hit it pretty hard. It was really solid, so I knew it was rough. I saw some fire, tried to get stopped and get out of the way and I guess Brad got in my oil and couldn’t get slowed down, so I hate it.” Elliott said.
“Man, it is just so ridiculous. I wish I knew what to do to try to fix things like that, but at the end of the day you really can’t. You couldn’t stop and turn, you couldn’t do anything. It’s a real bummer for our team. We had a really fast Miller Lite Ford and I think we had a shot at winning tonight, but that’s how it goes.” Keselowski stated.
Both drivers were checked and released from the Carolinas HealthCare System Infield Care Center and will be scored finishing 38th and 39th on the results.
