Rookie polesitter Chase Elliott was enjoying a strong opening to Sunday's Daytona 500 before he lost control of his car, which spun onto pit road and then into the infield grass.
Elliott's car did not appear to have much damage until it slid hit the turf, burying its nose as sheet metal crumpled.
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Drivers had discussed the issue of whether there should be grass next to racetracks, such as at Daytona International Speedway, throughout the week. Kyle Busch slid across the grass and slammed the infield wall head-on during the 2015 Xfinity race at the track, breaking his right leg and left foot and missing the opening segment of the Sprint Cup season.
Ryan Newman crashed at Daytona in 2003, his car flipping as it hit the grass. Jimmie Johnson also had significant damage to his car during this year's Sprint Unlimited when he hit infield grass after sliding off the track.
Both Newman and Johnson discussed the impact of the grass at the track earlier this week.
"We need to get rid of the grass — the grass in the tri-oval and the grass at the end of the backstretch," Newman told reporters during Tuesday's Daytona Media Day. "You saw what Jimmie Johnson did cutting across there. If his nose would have snagged the grass the wrong way, he would have flipped over and could have ended up in the lake or close to it. There's a lot of things we need to keep our eyes on. Did he stay safe? Yes. Did he stay off the wall? Yes. Did he rip the nose of his car unnecessarily? Absolutely."
Johnson also weighed in on the issue when talking with reporters.
Like Elliott, the damage to his car was heightened once he hit the infield grass.
"I didn't hit anything," he said. "All I did was go through the grass, got the nose ripped off. I know there were many other cars that went through the same thing.
"When you look at Ryan's crash on the front stretch here, he was fine 'til he got on the grass, then he started flipping. Grass doesn't slow you down like asphalt does. When you look at Kyle's impact in the Xfinity race.
"My opinion, grass belongs on golf courses. We need asphalt around here to slow the cars down, control the cars."
Daytona International Speedway this year unveiled a $400 million makeover that focused on its main grandstand and other fan areas.