A late-race multicar wreck resulted in heavy damage to Joey Logano and the No. 22 Team Penske Ford during Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, leading to a red flag that lasted approximately 13 minutes.
On Lap 183 of the eighth race in The Chase presented by Mobil 1, Logano was racing in the high lane, with Ross Chastain ahead and Carson Hocevar behind the No. 22. The trio accordioned together, with the contact sending Logano loose. An ensuing clip with Chase Briscoe’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sent his Ford airborne and upside down.
MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega
Logano exited his vehicle under his own power once his No. 22 Ford was uprighted.
“It looks like I just got a little push in the wrong spot there,” Logano said. “It was very much a ‘Talladega Nights’ moment, like, ‘Oh, no. I’m upside down. This is not a good moment.’ But I can’t thank the safety crew enough. They did an amazing job flipping that thing over. The car did a great job. The last time I flipped, it was crushed on my head. This time, I don’t think anything really caved or crushed at all. I appreciate what NASCAR has done. Thank you and the safety team for getting me out of there. There were some vicious hits in that one. I’m just happy to be alive.”
After initially being quiet on the radio following the wreck, Logano said he was OK following the incident.
“I’m fine,” Logano said. “The radios got disconnected, and I kept trying to. I was thinking about my wife. She was probably wigging out on me, but I tried talking to whoever I could, but when I flipped, everything came off out of the pockets there. It was a hell of a ride. I don’t know if I should be mad that I wrecked or happy to be alive. I think I’m more happy to be alive. Screw the rest of the stuff, but it was a wild ride there. We were in position to do something pretty good there, and it’s just the end-of-the-race scenario. You feel it coming. You know it. I’ve seen the cars that are around me, and I was like, ‘This is not how I dreamed it up,’ but it is what it is.”
WATCH: Logano reflects on huge wreck | Breaking down the final wreck
In addition to Logano, five Chase drivers were involved in the incident: Austin Cindric, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe and Carson Hocevar.
Non-Chase drivers involved in the wreck included: Brad Keselowski, AJ Allmendinger, Josh Berry, Riley Herbst, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen. Herbst received heavy damage, with his No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota slamming into the SAFER barrier. All drivers unable to continue exited under their own power.
MORE: Herbst says he’s ‘OK’ after wreck | Watch NASCAR video highlights
The crash was the second multicar wreck of the day. A Lap 132 incident involving 12 total cars occurred during Stage 2.
Logano finished 34th, one of seven Chase drivers to finish 32nd or worse. With Kyle Larson’s Talladega victory, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet holds a 73-point lead in The Chase standings. Logano sits 100 points behind Larson, fifth in the championship table. Cindric, Suárez, Buescher and Hocevar were four of nine total Chase drivers eliminated from title contention.