A NASCAR driver was sent soaring through the air during a crazy crash in a destructive fireball race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Three separate major multi-car crashes hit the field causing damage to nearly all of the drivers during the playoff race on Monday.
But the most dramatic of which sent American racer Brendan Gaughan temporarily airborne after his No62 Chevrolet was clipped while already sideways.
The 44-year-old was in the top-five ahead of the crash which caused him to do a FLIP before landing on all four tyres.
With less than 10 laps remaining, the veteran was forced into a barrel roll after Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski became involved in a huge crash.
The stunning incident ended Gaughan’s race as well as ending the afternoons of frontrunners Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Matt DiBenedetto and Kevin Harvick.
He thankfully emerged unhurt and later joked on NBC Sports’ broadcast: “Mother, it’s OK. It’s just a flip. It didn’t hurt. I promise!”
But it wasn’t the only wreck to disrupt the rain-delayed Cup race at Talladega, with William Byron and Erik Jones also suffering race-ending damage.
Byron took slight contact from Kurt Busch while running near the front of the inside lane that sent him spinning into Joey Logano, starting a chain reaction that caused an 11-car pile-up.
Ryan Blaney ultimately edged Ryan Newman by mere inches in one of the closest finishes in the sixth closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.
He said: “It was an amazing effort the last two days, to be honest with you.
“We spun out early yesterday and missed some big ones today. We were able to weave our way through.
“This was a huge, huge race for us. I’m pumped up. I don’t know what to say. We’re moving on!”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
