NASCAR Chase Contenders Caught in Massive Late Wreck at Gateway
· Yahoo Sports
The second race of the NASCAR Chase descended into chaos with 18 laps remaining Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Josh Berry were among the drivers caught in a massive late-race wreck that brought out the caution and dealt another major shakeup to the championship picture at Gateway.
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The incident unfolded shortly after Joey Logano had taken the lead on a restart. Wallace, Berry and Bell came together in a tightly packed battle, triggering a chain reaction behind them.
Reddick had nowhere to go.
The No. 45 Toyota was launched into the air as cars scattered across the track, while Bell’s No. 20 Toyota sustained significant damage in the pileup.
For a race that had already produced several major incidents, the timing of this one made it particularly consequential. Bell, Wallace and Reddick all entered Sunday as Chase contenders, and the crash came with the finish suddenly within sight.
Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick Caught in Late Gateway Chaos
The wreck began as the field battled for position following the late restart.
Wallace was running inside Berry when contact sent the No. 21 Ford into Bell. What followed happened almost instantly, with cars stacking up across the racing surface and Reddick’s No. 45 getting launched as he hit the developing wreck.
Bell had been running near the front before the incident. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver arrived at Gateway with momentum after winning the Southern 500 at Darlington one week earlier, making the sudden turn particularly costly in the second race of the 10-race Chase.
Reddick also entered the afternoon firmly in the championship fight, while Wallace had already endured an eventful race after being involved in an earlier restart incident with Chase Briscoe and William Byron.
The late crash only added another layer to what had become a brutal afternoon for several title contenders.
Ryan Blaney, who entered Sunday third in the Chase standings, had already been knocked out of contention after a brake rotor failure sent the No. 12 Team Penske Ford into the wall. Briscoe, Wallace and Byron were involved in the earlier restart incident before the latest pileup reshuffled the race yet again.
With fewer than 20 laps remaining when the caution flew, Gateway had gone from a potentially pivotal Chase race to a survival test.
And several championship contenders were caught directly in the middle of it.