The NASCAR Cup Series race in Atlanta saw a huge pileup involving more than 20 cars after Denny Hamlin made contact with John Hunter Nemechek on Lap 69. The incident led Nemechek to hit the outside wall, which then triggered a massive crash.
Several cars got involved in the incident, with tire smoke and pieces of carbon fiber going up in the air. The track was blocked by the wrecked cars, prompting NASCAR to halt the race and clear the wreckage. The massive pileup occurred early in the second stage, affecting a total of 23 cars.
Several big names from the NASCAR Cup Series were affected by the pileup, including Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece, Joey Logano, and Kyle Larson. The affected drivers were taken to the infield care center for a checkup.
Unfortunately for Logano, he was unable to continue after the crash despite starting from pole position. Admitting that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he said:
Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Menards/Quaker State Ford, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 King’s Hawaiian Toyota, Josh Berry, driver of the #21 DEX Imaging Ford, and Ryan Preece, driver of the #60 Solomon Plumbing Ford, spin after an on-track incident during the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at Echo Park Speedway on June 28, 2025 in Hampton, Georgia.
Krista Jasso/Getty Images
“I was in the middle of it and I haven’t seen a replay to even know what happened. Cars were sideways and you hit the brakes and everyone is just running into each other. Just a speedway wreck. Wrong place at the wrong time. Tried to win the stage and we couldn’t get that done, and you got to pay the piper when you go to the back there.”
Addressing the incident after viewing the replay, Logano added:
“The whole field wrecked, and I’m just in the soup there. Oh my gosh – look at that. Oh, that’s horrible.
“Sometimes you’re the ball, sometimes you’re the bat. Tonight we were the ball.”
Chase Briscoe said attempts to repair his car after the crash were futile. He explained:
“Yeah, I don’t know how bad our damage was. They were fixing it, and we were about ready to go, and I guess NASCAR came over there and saw that our chassis was broke or bent or something and were like, you can’t go back out. So, kind of a waste of 30 minutes working on it. Just unfortunate night for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota.”
Corey LaJoie revealed his views on the incident after watching the replay. He said:
“We see people pushing like dummies early, and then I just come in here and get pushed into it. I come out of the smoke and every corner on my Mustang was knocked off of it. Unfortunately, that was the end of my day.
“I don’t know what we’re doing. We just started the second stage. I don’t know why we’re pushing like we’re damn bumper cars at Frankie’s fun park. That’s not to be surprised. I think there’s a lot of guys who don’t make wise decisions driving these things on speedways.”