After two early cautions, the NASCAR XFINITY Series field was forced to stop during a red flag after a vicious crash on lap 18 of Saturday’s Zippo 200 at the Glen came
Circuiting the 2.454-mile Watkins Glen International on a restart after a lap 13 caution, Todd Bodine and Ryan Sieg were battling for position through the track’s esses -a fast, downhill section where the cars quickly gain speed- when contact between the two sent Bodine spinning in front of the field.
What ensued from there was a game of NASCAR pinball, with multiple drivers crashing as the field attempted to rush past the wreck on the track’s tightest section.
Looking for his fourth-straight NXS win, Kyle Busch was sent to the garage after suffering heavy damage in the crash. Chase hopefuls Darrell Wallace, Jr., and Blake Koch were also taken out, with Koch’s advantage over 13th-place Dakota Armstrong dropping to less than 10 points at the time of the accident.
In all, nine drivers were involved in the crash – Sieg, Bodine, Busch, Wallace, Koch, JJ Yeley, Tomy Drissi, Nicolas Hammann and Scott Heckert.
The race was quickly red-flagged after the crash in order to clean oil and debris from the racing surface.
The crash brought a quick end to a challenging return to the series for Bodine. Making his first XFINITY Series start since Sept. 2015, Bodine was involved in two of the race’s first three yellows, spinning in the track’s carousel turn on lap 13 and then causing the Big One on lap 17.
Aaron Bearden is a Frontstretch alumnus who’s come back home as the site’s Short Track Editor. When he isn’t working with our grassroots writers, he can be found talking about racing on his Morning Warmup newsletter, pestering his wife/dog or convincing himself the Indiana Pacers can win an NBA title.
Oh no… NOT THE ONION! Glad hometown hero Todd Bodine is OK! Such a shame for his local sponsors. Nice driving Ryan Sieg! Why u race for a “sheep station” 15 into a 82 lap race? What a dip!
What A Shame Kyle Busch was involved in wreck. LMFAO !!!!!