On November 18, 2018, the big news out of Homestead-Miami Speedway was Joey Logano besting the Big 3 of Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr. and pulling away with a thrilling victory at the Ford EcoBoost 400 to be crowned the NASCAR Cup Series champion.
While the race's finish is what everyone ultimately ended up talking about (it did make for one hell of an epic upset, after all), the beginning of the last race of the Cup Series season is probably something that most people would like to forget. At least one windswept skydiver would.
The last National Anthem, and the last flyover of the 2018 @NASCAR Cup Series season.
Time to get things started on NBC! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/oTcHSN6SAT
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 18, 2018
Part of a pre-race ceremony that included fireworks, an Air Force-led rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, and a flyover from the 93rd Fighter Squadron from Homestead Air Reserve Base, the skydiving routine ended in disaster after a gust of wind caused the diver to miss his drop zone and get tangled up in Homestead's catch fence.
Needless to say, since the landing spot was supposed to be in the grass on the inside of the track, this clearly wasn't the outcome that the ill-fated skydiver had drawn up. He didn't have any injuries or anything and a safety crew was unable to untangle him before the race started, but this definitely isn't the way you want to come off on national television.
It's unclear as to why the skydiver was given the green light to jump in the first place if it was as windy as it appeared, but just like Logano's victory, that gust of wind must have come out of nowhere.
This post was originally published on November 19, 2018.