Three NASCAR Cup champions crash in Talladega pit entry stack-up
On Lap 43 of 60 in the first stage at Talladega, green-flag pit stops were well underway. Exiting Turn 4, a group of Fords planned to pit together — and that's when disaster struck.
That's when three Cup champions and former winners at the famed track suffered significant damage early in Sunday's 500-mile race.
Advertisement
It began when RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski, who has the most wins of any active driver in the Cup Series at this superspeedway, slowed down to entered the pit lane under green. Fellow Cup champion Kyle Busch was unable to slow in time and got into the back of Keselowski, sending both cars spinning across the track. After hitting the door of Alex Bowman's No. 48 machine, they spun back to the inside. That's where Ryan Blaney got clipped in the right-rear by Keselowski, spinning wildly down the frontstretch.
"I don't know what happened," radioed Busch. "We never dropped below the yellow line there. I don't know if they checked up too much for him or what." Busch's steering wheel was knocked 90 degrees to the right, and the team needed to make repairs to the toe of his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Keselowski and Blaney react to early exit
While Busch remained on track, both Keselowski and Blaney were forced to take their cars behind the wall. They are officially out of the race.
Advertisement
"Just a stack of guys trying to come to pit road as fast as they could," said Keselowski after exiting the infield care center. "We were kind of the ham in the sandwich. I got squeezed. I don't know, I waved down the backstretch just to let everyone know I was gonna pit. I came off (Turn) 4 and everybody was still tight behind me. I didn't even have a chance to really turn left. Hate that it ruined, not just our day, but several other people's days, but I don't feel like I could have done anything different."
Blaney thought he had found a way through the chaos, but the change of direction left him with no way to go and his fourth DNF in the first ten races.
"I feel like we're all easily pretty decent getting to pit road," said Blaney. "Just kind of the point in the race where everyone is going to save some gas and then pit and everyone usually does a really good job of letting people know. I didn't sense anything was gonna happen. Really, from what I could see, the 6 [Keselowski] was trying to get to pit road with his group and I don't know if the the guy behind him [Busch] didn't know, didn't see and just kind of ran Brad over.
"And when they got hooked together, they were going up the track, so I just kind of committed to the bottom and I think they clipped someone on the top and ricocheted the 6 [Keselowski] back down the race track into me. That just stinks. Another DNF is no fun. We've just been riddled with those this year. Hopefully we can get that sorted out and get a little fortune on our side."
Advertisement
Officially, Keselowski finish 38th and Blaney 39th. Busch's car is wounded, but he was able to stay on the lead lap.
Read Also:
NASCAR teams prepare for grueling 28 weeks of racing with no breaks
Stenhouse: Fuel strategy is now the "only thing that matters" at Talladega
To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Panthers Coach Paul Maurice Building Strong Coaching Legacy, Despite No Jack Adams Recognition
This weekend, Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery won the 2024-25 Jack Adams Award as the NHL's best bench boss. But while Carbery certainly deserved the honor, his win meant another year has passed without one of the sport's very best coaches winning the Jack Adams. And that man is Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice. In a business with job turnover that has only increased in recent years, Maurice's NHL longevity is something to behold. The 58-year-old's first year as an NHL coach came in 1995-96, and since then, Maurice has coached an astonishing 27 seasons. He has coached 1,931 regular-season games in his stints with the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and the Panthers – and only coaching icon Scotty Bowman has coached more games (2,141). That means, barring some unexpected move or retirement, Maurice is going to break Bowman's record in the next three seasons. And yet, he's still looking for his first Jack Adams Award. Advertisement To this writer, that's more than a little ridiculous. It's true the Jack Adams isn't a lifetime achievement award, but Maurice has guided his teams to 12 playoff appearances, and he steered them to a first-or-second-place finish in their division on five different occasions. This is the hallmark of a coach who isn't some flash-in-the-pan. This is the sign of an expert coach who can change organizations multiple times and get solid results. And after last year, Maurice finally has his Stanley Cup, guaranteeing him a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame when he does choose to retire. Another Cup win by the Panthers this year would only underscore Maurice's legacy, but even if Florida does lose to the Edmonton Oilers in the next couple weeks, Maurice's performance can't be torn down by anyone. In an era where consecutive Cup-winners are few and far-between, he's delivered as much glory as anyone could've hoped for. At some point, Jack Adams voters have to acknowledge the job Maurice continues to do. It's safe and easy to give the coach of the year award to coaches who take a mediocre team one year and lead them to an elite finish the next year, but on some basic level, a coach's job is to steer his team through the muck of the regular-season and have them peaking by the time the playoffs arrive. And in the past three years in particular, Maurice has done exactly that, getting the Panthers to the point where they can dominate in each of the past three post-seasons. Now, coaches definitely need assistance from their GM as far as giving them great talent to utilize, and coaches also need top performances from their players at crucial times. But many teams have had those elements in their favor, and yet none of them have had the success Maurice's Panthers have had of late. He's pushed all the right buttons, made all the right on-ice and off-ice decisions, and he's now made it to three-straight Cup finals, with the distinct possibility of winning two of them. That is a remarkable feat, and sooner rather than later, Jack Adams voters need to give Maurice his accolades. Paul Maurice (Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images) When Maurice does break Bowman's record for games-coached, it will be the coaching equivalent of Wayne Gretzky's all-time points mark. Unless a coach begins his NHL days in his twenties as Maurice did, and unless he can build on that early start with more than a quarter-century of surviving in the shark-infested waters of constant coach turnover, no one is going to seriously challenge Maurice for top spot in that regard. Advertisement So while we can all congratulate Carbery on a job well done, we should also be clamoring for Maurice to get his own props one of these years. Only one person in the history of hockey has done it for longer than Maurice, and he's ascended to the echelon few will ever reach. If Maurice goes his entire lifetime without a Jack Adams, it will be more of a comment on the errors made by Jack Adams voters than it will be about Maurice's talent. He's done it all, he's a legend-still-in-the-making, and he's got a lot of time left to add to his first-rate resume. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Sam Bennett's unforgettable moment in the Stanley Cup Final
SUNRISE, Fla. — In a single shift, Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett showed why he's been one of the most unstoppable players in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, Bennett knocked Vasily Podkolzin off his feet with a huge hit in the defensive zone, then buried a breakaway goal on the other end moments later. After the goal, which put the Florida Panthers up 4-1 in the second period of an eventual 6-1 rout of the Edmonton Oilers, Bennett pumped his fist and hugged teammate Matthew Tkachuk, whose mouth was wide open, as if neither could believe what had just happened. That's who Bennett has been throughout the postseason — a hard-hitting, goal-guzzling centerpiece to Florida's third straight run to the Stanley Cup Final. And after another standout performance that strengthened his case for winning the Conn Smythe Trophy given to the playoff MVP, Bennett has the Panthers two wins away from hoisting a championship trophy for the second straight season. 'He's been an animal this whole playoffs. He's built for this time of year,' said Brad Marchand, who opened scoring with his eighth goal of the postseason. 'Just how competitive he is and how intense. Obviously you see the physicality piece. That shift was a perfect example of his game. He blows two guys up and then somehow leads the rush after that and scores a beautiful goal.' 'He can do it all,' Marchand continued. 'He doesn't get fazed. He competes and battles and he's not scared to go to the dirty areas. ... When you get in this time of year, you have to be able to go into the dirty areas, and he lives there.' Marchand had so many positive things to say about Bennett's game that his teammate, Sam Reinhart, nudged him during their postgame media session to finish up his answer. 'Sorry, I've got to wrap it up,' Marchand quipped. 'But he's been great.' Bennett had 51 points (25 goals, 26 assists) during the regular season, which was fifth on the team. His 20 postseason points lead the Panthers, and he has more goals — 14 — than any other player in the playoffs. He's also scored in each of the first three games of the Cup final. Bennett had two goals in Florida's 4-3 overtime loss at Edmonton in the series opener and opened scoring just two minutes into the Panthers' 5-4 double overtime win in Game 2. 'He's been incredible,' said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov. 'Obviously he's scoring goals, but he's doing so much more other stuff. He's carrying the puck in the neutral zone. He's making plays. He's defending well. He's just unreal right now.' Bennett's breakaway goal, which came on an assist from Eetu Luostarinen, stretched his goal streak to four games, which is a Panthers' postseason record. 'That goal was the perfect Benny goal,' said Tkachuk said, 'lays a big hit. (Luostarinen) makes a great block, springs Benny for a breakaway and a great goal.' Bennett's playoff scoring surge couldn't have come at a better time, with the 28-year-old set to hit free agency at the end of the season. Panthers coach Paul Maurice, fully aware of Bennett's pending free agency, made sure to issue a warning to any teams interested in his squad's leading postseason scorer. 'Horrible attitude,' Maurice quipped during a midgame television interview. 'I think he's got bubonic plague. Dengue fever. He's got a whole bunch of things. We're not sure he can be cured.'
Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Caitlin Clark to miss 5th game with quad strain, but could start 'ramping' up
Caitlin Clark will sit out a fifth consecutive game with a quadriceps strain when Indiana visits Atlanta on Tuesday, shifting the focus to whether the Fever star will return against the WNBA champion New York Liberty. Indiana coach Stephanie White stopped short Monday of saying Clark had been cleared for basketball activities, saying the club was ready for the reigning Rookie of the Year to start "ramping back up." The Fever initially said Clark would miss at least two weeks, and it has been 16 days since Clark was injured in a 90-88 loss to the Liberty. She finished the game, saying later adrenaline likely allowed her to play with the strain. Clark told reporters last week she was targeting a Tuesday return, but said she wouldn't rush it. White reiterated the patience part Monday. The rematch with the Liberty isn't until Saturday at home, which should give Clark some decent practice time. "We're going to be smart, and we're going to be cautious and we're going to play the long game and work her back in very intentionally," White said. Clark is averaging 19 points, 9.3 assists and six rebounds in four games this season. This is the first time in her college or pro career that she's missed games. She averaged 19.2 points and a WNBA-leading 8.4 assists as a rookie. The Fever are also without guard Sophie Cunningham, who has been limited to four games by ankle injury. White ruled out Cunningham against the Dream. Indiana was 2-2 when Clark suffered the quad strain, and has gone 2-2 in the four games since. They defeated the Washington Mystics in their first Commissioner's Cup game, and then defeated the Sky, 79-52, in a surprise rout in their second Cup matchup. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account , and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Caitlin Clark Indiana Fever Women's National Basketball Association recommended Get more from Women's National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
