Fans who weren’t settled into their seats as the flag went green for the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin race at Daytona International Speedway on Friday missed a doozy.
A doozy of a first-lap crash, that is.
More specifically, a doozy of a crash little more than 100 yards after the starting line as more than a third of the 35-car field was collected in a massive mess of a start triggered just seconds after the race went green.
As many as 14 drivers were sent to the infield care center to be checked out and released after the chain-reaction crash before the field was even up to speed. The crash was triggered by contact between the second- and third-place starters at the green flag.
Several cars, and pieces of cars were scattered across the track and into the grassy infield, forcing the field to come through the pits under caution to complete the first lap.
Two-time series champion Jared Thomas in the No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering entry was not collected in the crash, and he went on to the race win.
The talk of the race, however, was what happened not at the finish, but at the start.
“I was right behind Alex (Bachoura) and Gresham (Wagner),” said fourth-place starter Ren Messinger (No. 3 McCumbee McAleer Racing). “I saw Alex just push up a little bit, and Gresham came down to side draft right at the same time, and they just got hooked together. I didn’t see what happened afterwards. Luckily, I made it through, but it looked really big.”
The win was Thomas’ third MX-5 Cup win at Daytona. His first two were in 2022 and 2023. He went on to win the season championship in both years.
“Epic way to start the season,” added Thomas. “Let’s see if history repeats itself.”
