By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
In the final lap of the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Kyle Larson went barrel rolling down the Alabama Gang Superstretch while running in the top-20.
As the field exited off Turn 2, William Byron and David Ragan made contact sending Byron to the inside lane collecting Larson and Jeffrey Earnhardt. That contact sent Larson and Earnhardt bolting toward the inside wall.
As Larson was heading toward the wall, the back end of the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro went airborne and sent him barrel rolling along the wall.
“I was in the middle after we took the white flag,” Ragan said about the incident from his point of view. “I just got loose. I wrecked the 24 and spun him across my nose. He collected other cars. I feel like that was my fault. It’s pretty stupid to wreck like that when you are running 10th to 15th on the last lap.
“We didn’t have a shot to win. When you get three wide, there is nowhere to go. Everybody was pushing and shoving. My car just jumped sideways and when I corrected it, I caught the 24’s left rear. That’s unfortunate for our team.”
For Larson, the flip on the backstretch was one that he hasn’t experienced in some time. As he was spinning, Larson lost a reference of where he was.
“It’s a little scarier because you are going faster. It’s been a long time since I’ve flipped like that in anything. I didn’t know if it was ever going to stop or where I was at in reference to the fence or anything. It was scary, but thankfully it came to a stop with tires down. That was wild.”
“I was hoping I was going to slide on my roof, but it started tumbling. It’s
crazy. I don’t know what the racing was like, but NASCAR, I’m sure, will go
look at what they have to do to keep the cars on the ground. That wasn’t very
good.”
When Larson finally saw the replay, he shrugged his shoulders and walked away.