The Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway came to a halt on its opening lap due to a massive crash that collected Sam Mayer and several other drivers.
The incident began when the field went three-wide. AJ Allmendinger was on the outside of Mayer while Carson Kvapil was on the inside. Contact between Allmendinger and Mayer sent Mayer spinning into the field.
The incident collected Josh Berry, Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, Jesse Love, Parker Retzlaff, Joe Graf Jr., Jeremy Clements, Chandler Smith, Conor Daly, and Justin Allgaier. Berry and Mayer were unable to continue in the race.
Big trouble for multiple cars in Turn 3! 😳 pic.twitter.com/NXzBMTWMVV
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 20, 2024
Smith continued in the race after receiving repairs, but only for a few more laps. He lost fuel pressure and brought out the caution on Lap 16. He went to the garage before ultimately returning after the end of stage 1.
"It looked like Sam got three-wide middle and got loose and we all stacked and couldn't see and so we all kind of stacked up and wrecked," Berry said after exiting the infield care center.
"Obviously disappointing. We had a good qualifying effort being in the top 10, we were just in the wrong spot at the wrong time there."
Smith and Mayer both have secure spots in the playoffs with multiple wins each. Smith is third in the Cup standings and 59 points back of leader Cole Custer. Mayer is 10th in the standings and out of contention for the regular-season championship.
That doesn't mean the crash was any less frustrating for the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet.
"My teammate could have given me a little bit more grace and he didn't," Mayer said after exiting the infield care center. "And (Allmendinger) kinda was tight on my door. Because we're three-wide at Indianapolis, that's not very smart to me to begin with."
The situation was completely different for Sammy Smith, who is in his first season with JR Motorsports. He entered the weekend 36 points below the playoff cutline and Parker Kligerman. He was 22 points ahead of Ryan Sieg, who avoided the multi-car incident.
Sammy was able to continue in the race after sustaining heavy damage in the multi-car incident. He still finished the opening stage in 20th place and kept himself within reach of the cutline.