Daytona 500 crash: Watch the big wreck that collected half the field in 2020 NASCAR season-opener

Tadd Haislop

•
Daytona 500 crash: Watch the big wreck that collected half the field in 2020 NASCAR season-opener image

"The big one" seemed inevitable as drivers increased their aggressiveness with 17 laps to go in the 2020 Daytona 500. Sure enough, the massive crash occurred on the Daytona International Speedway backstretch on Lap 184, a wreck that brought out a red flag with 16 laps to go.

Joey Logano, operating on the outside of a two-wide field, was pushing Aric Almirola down the backstretch, but things went wrong when Almirola reached the back bumper of Brad Keselowski. The bump was too strong, and Keselowski was turned into the outside wall. They were running toward the front of the field, so you can imagine what happened next.

MORE: Complete Daytona 500 highlights

"Was getting a huge push," Almirola was heard saying on his radio after the crash. "Tried to check out of the throttle a little bit, but I just hooked him."

Involved in the accident were 19 drivers: Keselowski, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truck Jr., Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Ty Dillon, Matt DiBenedetto, Brendan Gaughan, Justin Haley, David Ragan, John Hunter Nemechek, Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain.

UPDATE: Another crash, on Lap 198, collected nine more cars and brought out another red flag. It would set up the first attempt at an overtime finish.

Tadd Haislop

Tadd Haislop is the Associate NFL Editor at SportingNews.com.