WATCH: Insane NASCAR crash triggers carnage at Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 witnessed scenes of carnage as a mass pile-up toward the end of the race took out more than a dozen cars.
The famous Florida racetrack was the scene for chaos as NASCAR racers were involved on no fewer than five crashes in the final 20 laps of the 200 in regulation.
The most frightening took place with 10 laps to go, when Paul Menard's Ford Mustang nudged Matt DiBenedetto's Toyota into a spin, setting off pinball-type collisions which damaged a reported 18 cars in all.
Check out this utterly INSANE multiple car CRASH during NASCAR’s Daytona 500 race in Florida, US! Miraculously, NO ONE was injured! pic.twitter.com/Yb9RldIAV7
— RT (@RT_com) February 18, 2019
Remarkably, no drivers were injured in the mass collision, dubbed ‘The Big One’ in NASCAR parlance.
The race was halted after the crash, but when it was resumed it was won by Toyota’s Danny Hamlin, who avoided the chaos to claim his second Daytona 500 triumph in four years.
The Big One ends the hopes of at least 18 cars in the #DAYTONA500. pic.twitter.com/0U0PpvaCy8
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 17, 2019
Make room for another car in your living room, @dennyhamlin!#DAYTONA500 | @DISupdatespic.twitter.com/5LD65Rts32
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 18, 2019
Menard later said: “It was go time, and I was pushing the 95 [Matt DiBenedetto] and it looked like he was trying to get to the middle and I started trying to get to the outside and just barely hooked him.
“Yeah, that was my bad. I wrecked a lot of cars. I feel bad about that.”
