Multiple cars eliminated in restart crash at Michigan
Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric and others were involved in a significant crash following a restart at Lap 25.
After a competition caution waved at Lap 20, JJ Yeley was among 11 cars that did not pit under the first yellow flag of the day. The ensuing restart saw Yeley’s No. 15 Ford check up after pushing up the track in Turn 1, leading to contact from behind by Michael McDowell and from the right by Aric Almirola.
MORE: Official results | At-track photos
That contact sent multiple cars spinning. Cindric was turned head-on into the outside wall after contact from Yeley and Ty Gibbs while Busch was eliminated after Almirola’s car pinned Busch’s into the outside wall in Turn 2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland were also collected.
Cindric suffered the most notable hit in the incident, and though he was OK physically, the Team Penske rookie expressed his disappointment after exiting the infield care center with a 37th-place finish.
“All I saw was the 15 car sideways and just everything stacked up,” Cindric told NBC Sports. “I got tagged in the left rear, shoved me up the race track and then got turned head-on into the fence. Looks like the 15 just got loose, stacked everybody up and got run into the back of. Not Ty’s fault, just everyone’s stacking up, but obviously a pretty massive hit to the outside wall head on.
“Glad to be OK, it just feels like such a waste to do all this and run a couple of laps and finish last, so pretty unfortunate. Hate it for the guys, the team, Discount Tire and everybody.”
In 36th place, Busch finishes outside the top 10 for the eighth consecutive race, marking a career-worst stretch. Busch qualified third and was the fastest car in practice in 10-lap averages. The No. 18 team pitted under the prior caution and restarted outside the top 10.
“I just was trying to bide my time and knew we weren’t gonna necessarily need to be in a hurry there to get points for the end of that stage,” Busch told NBC Sports. “It was gonna be a 40-lap run and it was gonna be plenty of time to get up there with our car. We had a really fast Interstate Batteries Camry. I mean it was looking really good for the day and obviously not a good result.
“Just got squeezed between the 10 spinning and myself and the fence. Just don’t get it, man. Just can’t buy a break right now.”
Gilliland and McDowell were able to continue. Busch, Almirola, Burton, Cindric, Stenhouse and Yeley were forced to retire from the event. All drivers were checked and released from the infield care center.
