標籤: wreck

The first round of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway was uneventful, dominated by commercials more than anything else. A few minutes after Stage 2, “The Big One” happened in Dega.

Just 17 laps into the second stage with racing three-wide at the front of the field, Ross Chastain came to the middle of the lane. This created a stack-up with Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry and Joey Logano behind him, that momentum carried Bubba Wallace to the lead.

READ MORE: Tyler Reddick announces contract decision

The No. 23 car came loose from the stack-up push and overturned into the wall, where it was struck by Cole Custer’s No. 41 car. Custer went down and hit Daniel Suarez, who spun into Logano, and the massacre took over most of the field.

Wallace exited his car due to the damage at the end of the race and was taken to the infield care center where he was treated. Speaking to Fox’s pit reporter Jamie Little, he accepted responsibility for what happened.

“We have to figure out how to push better, so I’ll take charge. We’ll do a good debrief and figure out what we can do to make our Toyota a little better at pushing.”

Bubba Wallace on “The Big One” in Dega

In total, NASCAR reported that Seth Eggert counted at least 30 cars that were involved in this massive crash. Obviously, this required a red flag, as the NASCAR Cup Series looked to set a record for the worst crash in the modern era.

About 14 lead-lap cars escaped damage. Coming out of the wreck, the running order for Jack Link’s 500 was Ryan Preece, Chastain, Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Eric Jones, Michael McDowell, Todd Gilliland, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Cody Ware, Noah Gragson, Zane Smith and Austin Dillon, as recorded by The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck.

• DNFs from the Wreck: Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, William Byron, Chad Fincham and Cole Custer

Logano, Custer, Blaney, Berry, Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski all went to the garage with their cars requiring significant repairs. Larson’s No. 5 suffered damage late in the race and finished last. Logano (DNF) finished 39th, Custer (DNF) 38th, Blaney (DNF) 37th and Wallace 36th.

William Byron’s No. 24 car had to have a bent tie rod replaced, and it was determined that the car could not be repaired, ending his day. He finished Sunday’s race in 35th place.

While the No. 54 car of Ty Gibbs was able to run after the restart, his front tire blew out a few minutes later and he crashed into the wall. This was due to damage caused in the initial accident. He ended the day in the 34th minute.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

It wasn’t a good night in Colorado, as the Houston Rockets struggled in a 36-point loss to the Denver Nuggets. According to NBA Courtside, after the 129-93 loss, Kevin Durant spoke honestly about the game and whether play played a role on the back end of the back-to-back.

“Kevin Durant asked if back-to-backs played a role in loss to Denver: ‘No. No. That’s our job. We get paid to do it. Back-to-backs shouldn’t matter at all,'” NBA Courtside posted on X.

The Rockets were coming off a 113-99 win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night. Then, they made a change and traveled to Denver for this game. The results did not go as planned and it was the second time in a week that the Rockets faltered.

The Rockets kept it close early, trailing 24–20 after the first quarter, and 53–47 at halftime. But things quickly got out of control in the third quarter, as the Nuggets put up 40 points on them to take a 93–69 lead heading into the third. The deficit was too much for the Rockets to overcome, and Durant was not that productive.

Amen Thompson led the Rockets with 16 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Similarly, Durant added 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Jabari Smith Jr. had 11 points, while Alperen Sengun had 10 points. Overall, the team shot 43.3% from the floor, including just 12.1% (4 of 33) from beyond the arc. The Rockets allowed the Nuggets to shoot 55.2% from the hardwood, including 53.1% from triples.

The Rockets will have a day off Thursday and then head home for a showdown with the New Orleans Pelicans before hosting the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.