In a moment of frustration, Kyle Busch attempted to break the rear bumper off the NASCAR pace car at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Today, NASCAR has unloaded in Loudon, New Hampshire. The 1-mile oval of New Hampshire Motor Speedway is set to bring the race weekend to a close with the NASCAR Cup Series event.
Watch the NASCAR rain crash video below.
They dropped the green flag, Kyle Busch jumped out to the early lead. But, that’s short lived.
A surprise rain shower fell on lap 6 and chaos followed. It took a lap and a half for something to happen after the rain started to fall. But, rain and slick tires don’t mix.
Race leader Kyle Busch was first to the wet corner. The 2nd place driver of Martin Truex Jr slid right through the corner and tagged the wall.
Behind them, Denny Hamlin spun but somehow avoided the wall. Alex Bowman used all of the track and lightly brushed the wall.
NASCAR has been testing rain tires for racing on short tracks. A rain tire oval test has been done as both Martinsville and Richmond. However, they said before this weekend that that wasn’t ready for implementation.
Related: NASCAR tests oval rain tire at Richmond Raceway
After the crash, Kyle Busch held the lead. He then pushed on the rear bumper of the pace car, hard enough to break the bumper. It was likely Busch’s way of showing frustration with NASCAR.
Shortly after the red, NASCAR dropped the red flag on the race. Busch climbed from his car and he wasn’t happy…
Kyle Busch on crashing in the rain
“We started the race under a mist,” Kyle Busch told NBC Sports.
“It never should have went green to begin with. It kept getting worse and worse from lap to lap. The lap before, I went into turn one and it shoved the nose really bad. I was able to keep it under control, it wasn’t wet enough.”
“The next time I went down there… Hell, I lifted at the flagstand. Maybe a little passed the flagstand, don’t get too dramatic. Just, backed it in.”
“We’d been talking about it for two laps that it was raining. There’s no sense in saying what I want to say, it doesn’t do you any good.”
“We’re done. We’re going home. It’s over. There’s no fixing that thing.
Martin Truex Jr comments after crashing in the rain at NHMS
“It’s just ice,” Martin Truex Jr explained during the red flag. “Slicks don’t stick to water.”
“The No. 18 and I had it the worst because we were out front. The lap before, I went into turn one and about did the same thing.”
“I was hollering on the radio, ‘The track is wet! Like, wet, wet.’ “
“I tried to back it down. Went in there and it just kept going. I couldn’t even slow it down. At some point you gotta turn the wheel and that’s when it spins out.”
Truex added, “It’s one of my favorite tracks and now we’re out. The rear’s not bad but the splitter’s on the earth. A lot of stuff bent up. We felt we were going to have a good car here today. It’s a real shame.”
Denny Hamlin comments on rain crash
“I think we were just far enough up the field to be in the wreck but far enough back where I saw the leaders wrecking and was able to check up my braking point, 100 feet, which kept us out of the wall” Denny Hamlin said after the crash.
“It’s wet and we’re on slick tires. These cars don’t have any grip on slick tires and wet asphalt. To me, that’s what the job of the corner spotter has in NASCAR. They’re sitting over there and they can feel when it’s raining.”
“That’s there job, to tell NASCAR that it’s raining and we gotta stop. In these situations, you want to air on the side of not looking bad. And, this is just a bad look.”
“We had a 30 second warning because there was cars sliding up the race track, the lap before. The rain had not slowed down, it picked up. It’s only going to get worse, as you saw.”
“You rely on NASCAR to do their part. You rely on corner workers to tell NASCAR. They can’t see it from the tower, they can see the rain but they don’t know how damp the surface it. That’s what the job of the corner official is.”
Hamlin added, “Be interested to see what communication was being had during that 30-40 second period.”
Related: Denny Hamlin talks frustration with NASCAR changes; Wants a return to roots
Kyle Busch crashes in rain at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Video
Related: Rain falls during dirt race at Eldora Speedway; They all crash (VIDEO)
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Kyle Busch | Martin Truex Jr | Denny Hamlin | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | NASCAR
