Denny Hamlin celebrated his second victory in four years at the Daytona 500 on Sunday but Nascar’s biggest race was marred by a huge pile-up involving 21 cars.
With just ten laps to go at Daytona International Speedway, Paul Menard’s car No.21 caused the mass crash but unbelievably no drivers were hurt in the incident.
In a video published on YouTube Fox Sports said: “You knew it was coming eventually. The Big One struck late at the 2019 Daytona 500, taking out 21 cars in a shower of sparks and carnage after a mistake by Paul Menard. Everyone walked away okay.”
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Menard took the blame for the crash and said: “It was go time, and I was pushing the 95 [Matt DiBenedetto] and it looked like he was trying to get to the middle and I started trying to get to the outside and just barely hooked him.
“Yeah, that was my bad. I wrecked a lot of cars. I feel bad about that.”
Driving for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), Hamlin took the victory in “The Great American Race”, The Sun reports, as only 14 cars finished.
It was a storybook tribute for JGR, says The Associated Press. The team secured a 1-2-3 on the podium and the result was dedicated to J.D. Gibbs, Joe Gibbs’ eldest son who died last month after battling a degenerative neurological disease.
Hamlin said: “The whole family, they did so much for me over the course of my career, and this one is for J.D. We are desperately going to miss him the rest of our lives. His legacy still lives on through Joe Gibbs Racing and proud to do this for them.”
