Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Race finished on a somewhat anti-climactic note after a late crash meant the race came to the checkered flag under caution. Sunday's Chicago Street Race came to an end thanks to a horrific hit that wasn't even broadcast.
During the broadcast, viewers never got a look at what caused Ware to go into the barriers, ending what was a pretty decent day for him. But footage on social media and from in-car cameras showed a pretty severe crash.
Ware's huge wreck caught on camera by fans/viewers
All fans knew about Ware's crash was that he ended up in the tire barrier, but not if it was via contact by another driver, his own mistake or something else.
But judging by Chris Buescher's onboard camera, one could assume something had to have broken.
Looked like something broke huge on Cody Ware's car to cause that crash in Turn 6. Might have been a brake failure
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) July 6, 2025
You can see all the debris hitting Chris Buescher's car from his onboard https://t.co/eESKgv2DdV pic.twitter.com/hnaTfR0yaJ
One angle from the stands captured just how brutal the hit was and how much speed Ware hit the tires with.
Caught this video of Cody Ware’s crash. The speed is incredible but glad he was okay. NSFW for language pic.twitter.com/fuZZIqM7xE
— Chris (@MagnusCheeks) July 6, 2025
And finally, Ware's own onboard shows the hopeless moments as Ware tried to slow himself down before crashing out.
From Cody Ware's onboard. He'd apparently been saying the right front had been locking up but didn't confirm if it was a tire or brake failure before getting out of the car.
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) July 6, 2025
Tough ending to what had been a great run for him. https://t.co/YgTC90rWZt pic.twitter.com/5BleyEWnsq
Reason for Ware's crash revealed
Despite the horrific crash, Ware as OK and able to walk away from the scene. Rick Ware Racing revealed after the race that the No. 51 car picked up a vibration from contact with Justin Haley and things got worse until the rotor exploded. Ware had been as far up as the top 10 during the race and was 18th when he crashed.
NASCAR's slow response meant Chicago race has a weak ending
Officials near the side of the track got a too-close-for-comfort view of the crash, with a flag man very close to Ware's car as it hit the tires. Despite this, NASCAR didn't throw the caution until after Shane van Gisbergen took the white flag, meaning there would be no overtime, and the race ended right there.
NASCAR has been known to pull the trigger on late yellows extremely fast, so the lack of one here was truly bizarre for two reasons.
One: Because Ware could've been hurt, and the lack of a yellow meant it took longer for safety crews to get to the scene. Ware himself expressed a bit of surprise in the length of time between the crash and the yellow postrace when talking to Frontstretch. It was clear Ware's car wasn't going to move, and they had nearly a minute to realize that.
Two: Because SVG had run away with the race, it just was a downer of a finish. Even with SVG gone, the yellow put an end to an exciting battle for second between Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick in the fastest car on track.
TNT fails to follow up on the crash
Sunday's Chicago race was just the second of five races on TNT Sports, and it was one that didn't really get glowing reviews.
Viewers weren't thrilled with some of the angles and presentation, especially in comparison to the highly touted broadcast Prime had brought a few weeks back. Among the errors: TNT basically missed the moment of the spin between Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace and took a while to actually show it.
While Ware is one of the sport's backmarkers, TNT didn't seem to mention it whatsoever during its lengthy postrace. Whether it was a crash with Ware or someone like Kyle Larson, replaying the race-ending crash seems like something to come back to.
TNT will have the next three NASCAR races at Sonoma, Dover and Indianapolis before NBC/USA take over for the rest of the season.