Austin Dillon caroms into wall in final lap crash at Coke Zero 400 (video)
Austin Dillon was involved in a harrowing final-lap crash at the Coke Zero 400 in Daytona.
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It was a terrifying scene at Daytona International Speedway early Monday morning, with Austin Dillon caroming into the outside wall in a final-lap crash. As Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson raced for the checkered, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin made contact just past the finish line to set off the chain of events. From there Dillon was hung up, and his car went airborne into the track’s catch fences.
The crash calls to mind some of the speedway’s more frightening moments, as it’s impossible to see a No. 3 car wrecking and not think of the late Dale Earnhardt. Also, the airborne vehicle was reminiscent of a 2013 Nationwide crash at DIS that injured more than 30 fans.
Miraculously, Dillon was able to walk away from the incident. After the race, he had some strong words about the safety hazards of restrictor plate racing at superspeedways.
"“It’s not really acceptable I don’t think,” Dillon said. “We’ve got to figure out something. I think our speeds are too high, I really do. I think everybody can get good racing with lower speeds, and we can work on that and then figure out a way to keep cars on the ground.“That’s the next thing. We’re fighting hard to make the racing good. I hope fans enjoy all that. We don’t. That’s your job. You go out there and you hold it wide-open to the end, checkers or wreckers, and hope you make it through.”"
Dillon was also appreciative of all his fellow competitors who checked on him afterward.
Want to thank all the guys that came out to the car to check on me. We compete against each other every week but we are one family #NASCAR
— Austin Dillon (@austindillon3) July 6, 2015
NASCAR’s next stop is the Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night (July 11) for the Quaker State 400.
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