The Talladega Cup race last Sunday witnessed multiple crashes in the final stage after the first two stages. The most unfortunate incident of the day was an All-Toyota crash while they were drafting together. John Hunter Nemechek ’s decision to not lift on turn-while racer ahead of him lost control resulted in crash that collected Bubba Wallace , Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin .
Erik Jones suffered the most due to the incident. The Legacy MC driver initially was sour as usual once he was released from the infield care center after primary checks, but soon he came back and was later shifted to a hospital near Dega. He was discharged on Monday, but owing to a fracture, will miss the race on Sunday at Dover. Crey Heim will make his Cup debut in the No:43 car.
While talking about the race in his podcast, 2012 Cup champion Kevin Harvick has pointed out that Jones’ hit was pretty violent. He added that the cars speed (over 160 miles) and the angle of the crash made it really tough for the LMC racer. Harvick asserted that Next-Gen cars have made these kinds of crashes more violent.
It is violent. Erik Jones’ hit was violent, it blew the air cleaner off, blew the hood off. I think that he was definitely over 160 miles an hour I would say, if not more when he hit the fence like that, and those right angles and hits like that are just really tough. With this Gen 7 car, they are just much more violent. Kevin Harvick said Happy Hours podcast.
Kevin Harvick recalls Josh Berry and Corey LaJoie crash
The last lap of the race at Dega featured the big one. A poor double black attempt of Michael McDowell resulted in his wrecking most of the field. Corey LaJoie was collected in the incident. Josh Berry had a wreck earlier in the race. Kevin Harvick highlighted that these were very violent crashes.
The Josh Berry incident, the Corey LaJoie incident – those cars when they get up in the air like that and slam back into the ground, it feels like someone takes a punch and hammers it right through your spine. Kevin Harvick said.
The ex-Stewart Hass Racing driver words proves that the Next-Gen cars’ features plays a significant factor in the violent nature of the wrecks. NASCAR has to take a look at these claims and uncover the issues, as driver safety cannot be compromised.
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