'Massive Wreck' In NASCAR Atlanta Race Results In Major Damage To Multiple Cars
'Massive Wreck' In NASCAR Atlanta Race Results In Major Damage To Multiple Cars originally appeared on The Spun.
NASCAR is in Atlanta today for the Quaker State 400 as part of the NASCAR In-Season Challenge. Unfortunately, one of the tournament's biggest proponents just saw his car get wrecked as part of the action.
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On Lap 57, Christopher Bell's No. 20 car got turned and subsequently smashed as several drivers rammed into his car. One of the other car casualties of the wreck was Ryan Blaney's No. 12 car, which also sustained "major damage" after the dust settled.
Bell and Blaney got sent to the garage while Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon and a few others lost a lot of ground.
"A problem for Christopher Bell turned into a big problem for others. Ryan Blaney's bid to win, and advance in the In-Season Tournament is done thanks to this incident, which ended Stage 1 of the Quaker State 400," motorsports writer Toby Christie remarked on X.
NASCAR fans are already annoyed that their brackets in the In-Season Challenge have already been destroyed by the eliminations from the race:
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"Did a 5 race NASCAR bracket pool starting with tonight's race in Atlanta. Walk into the house and see a 30 car wreck. So the equivalent of if 50 planes carrying NCAAB teams crashed. NASCAR gambling is brutal," one user lamented with a laughing emoji.
"#NASCAR I'm so glad that I didn't get caught up in the hoopla of making a bracket, it probably would have been busted by now," wrote another.
"There goes my fantasy team AND my bracket. I coulda been a millionaire!" a third wrote.
"I saw my entire final four in the bracket challenge right in the middle of the pileup lol."
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"#NASCAR can just call the insurance company for the bracket payout and tell them they get to keep the money. The house always wins."
HAMPTON, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 22: Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DEWALT Toyota, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 22, 2025 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by)The irony is that Bell was one of the most fervent supporters of the In-Season Challenge.
'I mean, I think it's going to be a great addition to the sport,' Bell said in May of last year. 'And it's certainly going to open up the strategy a lot, because it really creates a head-to-head racing scenario where if the yellow flag comes out, you might just do the opposite of the guy that you're racing — regardless of what that does to your finishing position. So I think it's going to be awesome for the sport, and it's going to be really fun to pay attention and see how it influences the race.'
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Time will tell if the tournament is great for the sport. Though for right now, it sure wasn't great for Bell.
Related: NASCAR Insider Blasts 'Dumb' Idea For In-Season Tournament
'Massive Wreck' In NASCAR Atlanta Race Results In Major Damage To Multiple Cars first appeared on The Spun on Jun 29, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jun 29, 2025, where it first appeared.
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