By Caleb Whisler, Staff Wrtiter
Jamie McMurray, Ty Dillon, Ryan Newman and Daniel Suarez will have to go to a backup car and start at the rear of the field for Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway following an accident in final practice.
After posting a speed of nearly 204 mph around the 2.66-mile speedway, McMurray cut a left rear tire going down the backstretch. The tire sent McMurray for a spin in front of Newman which pushed the No. 1 Chevrolet ZL1 airborne and barrel-rolling into the inside SAFER barrier.
After flipping and rolling his car in an absolutely terrifying crash during practice, Jamie McMurray was able to walk away: "I just kept my eyes closed." pic.twitter.com/Wi1TdmDdOo
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) April 27, 2018
“It just wouldn’t stop,” McMurray said. “As it started rolling, the impacts weren’t that bad, I just want it to stop rolling at this point. I’m just thankful that no one else hit me while you were upside down or when you come to a stop.
“It goes really slow. When I realized I was going to flip, I actually shut my eyes – I don’t really want to see what is going to happen — and then it seemed like forever. I opened my eyes a couple of times and I don’t know if I’m going up or down or where it’s going to hit next.’’
After being evaluated and released from the infield care center, Newman expressed his concerns about cars going airborne.
“It’s unnecessary and it needs to be addressed. I will leave it at that. They work on it, but we still haven’t fixed it,” Newman stated after the accident.
What should NASCAR do to fix this? Newman offered his idea.
“Slow the cars down. Never seen a car get airborne sitting in the garage, never once. The closer to zero you are the less likely to get airborne. Simple as that,” Newman said
McMurray was fastest in the first practice at 203.975 mph. Dillion and Suarez posted the second and third fastest times.