The ‘Big One’ was inevitable.
Talladega Superspeedway has a reputation for high-speed, multi-car wrecks on the 2.66-mile oval and the 2024 YellaWood 500 lived up to that expectation. Joey Logano, who is battling for the championship qualified in sixth place, but couldn’t maintain his track position in the second Round of 12 race. The Team Penske driver won the opening postseason fixture at Atlanta Motor Speedway but has struggled since then and was forced to retire on Lap 183 due to an on-track incident.
Despite being in the elimination cutline after finishing the race in 33rd place, the Team Penske driver refused to blame Brad Keselowski, whose contact with Austin Cindric resulted in the biggest wreck in NASCAR history.
Going into the race, there was an underlying expectation that multi-car wrecks at Talladega weren’t just a possibility but an unavoidable outcome. However, nobody would have predicted the level of chaos that took place in the closing stages. It all began when Brad Keselowski nudged Cindric’s No. 2 Ford Mustang, sending the Team Penske driver spinning across the racetrack. What followed was somewhat of a chain reaction, as Cindric collided with his teammate Joey Logano while Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, and Chase Elliott were also caught in the wreck.
In the post-race interview, Joey Logano refused to pin the blame on RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski, who finished runner-up. The Team Penske driver said, “Everyone gets more aggressive at the end of the races. The #2 got out there a little bit more than what he has been and #21 gave me a shove and transferred that to the #6. It got to the #2, fair amount of steam there. It was not his fault, it was not Brad’s fault. It was not anybody’s fault. Just a product of racing. It was getting more and more aggressive as the laps went down. It happens.”
