Austin Cindric got the worst of a big multi-car wreck in the final stage of the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona, and fortunately was okay after flipping multiple times.
Even when things are relatively calm for most of a race at Daytona International Speedway, there’s always the chance that disaster is lurking right around the next turn. The Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 was exactly like that Friday night, with only two cautions for single-car incidents until well into the final stage.
It only takes one wrong move to set off the “Big One” in a restrictor plate race, though, and once it happens, it usually means at least a dozen cars get involved. That was the case when Matt Tifft tried to get to a spot where he didn’t have time to get to, making contact with the No. 60 Ford driven by Austin Cindric.
At first, the wreck that ensued looked like any other at Daytona, with 17 cars spinning and ricocheting off each other. But just as mist cars were getting slowed down or straightened out, Cindric’s Ford lifted off the track while turned sideways, flipping multiple times before finally coming to a rest on its wheels.
As is often the case at place races these days, Cindric’s wild ride makes you grateful that safety technology has advanced to the point where drivers can go through wrecks like this without serious harm. NASCAR cars also leave the racing surface much less often in the second decade of the 21st century than they did in years past, but it still makes your heart skip a beat when it happens.
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At the time of this article, the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 still wasn’t quite complete, with an extensive red flag period for the Big One followed by another, smaller incident not much later.