Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin involved in multicar wreck during Budweiser Shootout practice
Jamie McMurray's car is towed to the garage after a multicar crash in Budweiser Shootout practice. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Illustrated
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Denny Hamlin got into the back of Mark Martin’s car in Budweiser Shootout practice Thursday night, igniting a seven-car crash at Daytona International Speedway.
Hamlin hit Martin about 35 minutes into the opening practice, and the ensuing crash resulted in Hamlin, Martin, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick all going to backup cars. Harvick, who is sick with flu-like symptoms, had Clint Bowyer in his car for practice.
“It probably was a case of both us anticipating – it looked like he was going to try to squeeze in on the outside of me, so I made an effort to give him a line and he anticipated to get behind me,” Martin said. “If either one of us had just anticipated something else, it wouldn’t have happened. … It’s a huge disappointment for my team.
“To be down a car already is not a good way to start off Speedweeks. I was really happy with my car there. I wish we wouldn’t have torn it up. I was making an effort to be on the cautious side, and I think Denny did, too. And in this particular case, it created a situation where we came together. If just one of us would have been a little bit wilder, maybe it wouldn’t have happened.”
Hamlin saw it pretty much the same way.
“I was trying to be cautious,” Hamlin said. “You got two things going together – him at the last minute trying to check up and be cautious, me at the last minute trying to get behind him. Anytime there’s a check-up point down the straightaway, it’s going to happen.
"The cars are really unstable when you get close to each other. I’m not sure if it’s better or worse than in years past, but it’s definitely a lot different.”
Biffle didn’t seem amused as drivers are experimenting with a new rule that allows bump-drafting on restrictor-plate tracks.
“It’s aggressive bump-drafting,” Biffle said. “That’s what we were looking for – aggressive bump-drafting. Trust me, we’re not finished. What are we, 20-30 minutes into practice? It’s gonna be awesome.”
RCR’s Jeff Burton was the quickest in the practice with a speed of 193.303 mph, followed by McMurray (193.241) and Kyle Busch (193.212).
Now McMurray won’t have the fast car he had in practice.
“I saw [Martin] get turned around and I didn’t know who was behind him or around him,” McMurray said. “You go to the bottom and you try to get away from that, but you can only turn left and the car can go only so quick. I didn’t get clipped very hard – just barely.”
