The Big One (NASCAR)

The Big One is a phrase describing any crash usually involving five or more cars in NASCAR and ARCA stock car racing. It is most commonly used at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, although occasionally seen at other tracks as well, such as Dover International Speedway.

Coining the phrase

Typical three-wide pack at Daytona International Speedway in 2015.

Until the 2000s, massive crashes were referred to as "major" or "terrific" crashes.

By the mid-1990s, competitors and media began taking note of the multi-car wrecks at Daytona and Talladega. In 1997, Dale Earnhardt described a final-lap crash at the 1997 Pepsi 400 as "the Big Wreck". News articles began using the term "Big Wreck" to describe such crashes in 1998, and by 1999, its use was widespread. Drivers began to openly admit they were apprehensive of its possibility.

One of the first times the term "The Big One" was used on-air was during the Winston 500 on ESPN October 11, 1998. Commentator Bob Jenkins said during the crash on lap 134 "this is the big one we hoped we would not have." One of the first published instances of the term "The Big One," was an April 18, 2000, article on ESPN.com about a crash in the DieHard 500. The term was also being used informally by fans on message boards.

During the 2001 Daytona 500, Fox commentator Darrell Waltrip used the term on-air to describe an 18-car crash in the backstretch on lap 173, as saying "It's the big one, gang, it's the big one. It's what we've all been fearing in this kind of racing is going to happen."

By 2001, the phrase was widely used by competitors, fans, and in print and broadcast media. It soon became standard NASCAR vernacular, and it became a retronym to describe past such accidents as well.

The Big One has been the subject of criticism of NASCAR. Some have complained that the sanctioning body, promoters and media have celebrated the crashes.

By 2009, Talladega Superspeedway marketed itself on the notorious crashes, with a one-third-pound frankfurter sold at the track called "The Big One".

Examples

Sprint Cup Series

• 2001 Daytona 500: on lap 173, Robby Gordon got into the back of Ward Burton on the back straightaway. Burton's car turned and cut across Tony Stewart's bumper, starting a chain reaction that collected an additional 16 cars (18 in total). Stewart took the worst hit, as he was turned around, rolled on top of Robby Gordon's car, then flipped over twice before landing on top of Bobby Labonte. The wreck was overshadowed by Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash on the last lap.
• 2002 Daytona 500: on lap 148, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick (both racing in the Top 5) made contact in turn one. Harvick took the worst hit, As his car slid down the track after hitting the wall, he collected an additional 20 cars (22 in total). Contenders Matt Kenseth, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, John Andretti, Jerry Nadeau and Earnhardt, Jr. (his third incident in the race) were eliminated.
• 2002 Aaron's 499: on lap 164, Jimmie Johnson shuffled Kyle Petty out of line in turn 1. Coming on to the backstretch, Petty found a spot in line, but the whole field stacked up behind him, causing Mike Wallace to force Tony Stewart against the outside wall, collecting 24 cars: Steve Park, Rusty Wallace, Mike Skinner, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Casey Atwood, Bill Elliott; Johnny Benson, Jr.; Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Jeremy Mayfield, Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, Ricky Craven, Jimmy Spencer, John Andretti, Steve Grissom, Bobby Hamilton, Dave Blaney, Geoff Bodine and Ricky Rudd. Sadler took the biggest hit in the wreck by slamming the corner of the inside wall on the right side, while Benson had to be pulled out of his car after it caught fire on pit road. However, all of the drivers involved escaped injury.
• 2003 Aaron's 499: on lap 4, entering turn 1, Ryan Newman blew a tire, smashed hard into the turn 1 wall, and almost turned over. One of Newman's tires came off, got struck by Ricky Rudd's hood, and bounced right over the catch fence, landing in a restricted access area. Mayhem ensued as cars checked up behind attempting to avoid Newman, who spun across the middle of the track. The huge crash collected 25 additional cars (27 in total): Jack Sprague, Jerry Nadeau, Hermie Sadler, Mike Wallace, Steve Park, Rusty Wallace, Mike Skinner, Mark Martin, Jimmy Spencer; eventual race winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr.; Johnny Benson, Jr.; Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, Jeff Green, Casey Mears, Jamie McMurray, John Andretti, Kyle Petty, Ken Schrader, Todd Bodine, Dave Blaney, Dale Jarrett and Jeff Burton. This wreck is the largest recorded wreck in Cup competition.
• 2005 Aaron's 499: On lap 132, Mike Wallace, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. got together at the pit road exit in the tri oval, forcing Scott Riggs and Wallace to careen into to the wall hard, and collecting 28 other cars (31 in all): Kyle Busch, Dave Blaney, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, Mike Wallace, Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Bobby Labonte, Kasey Kahne, Mike Bliss, Brian Vickers, Scott Wimmer, Bobby Hamilton, Jr., Sterling Marlin, Jeff Green, Jason Leffler, Boris Said, Casey Mears, Joe Nemechek and Carl Edwards. Fox studio analyst Jeff Hammond estimated the total damage at $8 million. The race was halted for about 43 minutes for extensive cleanup.
• 2012 Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500: on lap 189, the last lap of a green-white-checker restart following Jamie McMurray's spin with five laps to go, Tony Stewart tried to block the advancing draft of Michael Waltrip and Casey Mears in turn four. As Stewart moved down to block Waltrip, he was passed on the outside by Matt Kenseth (the only car ahead of the crash; would go on to win the race). Stewart came across the front of Waltrip's car, turned sideways, and spun up into the pack, collecting 24 other cars (25 in all): Waltrip, Mears, Kevin Harvick, Marcos Ambrose, Sam Hornish, Jr., Aric Almirola, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Regan Smith, Dave Blaney, Jeff Burton, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Martin Truex, Jr., David Gilliland, Terry Labonte, Landon Cassill, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Stewart's car went upside down and landed on top of Kahne, Menard and Bowyer before flipping back over and coming to rest at the exit of turn four. Jeff Gordon escaped the wreck on the apron to finish in second place, respectively. Most of the cars were caught in the initial pileup; however, five cars (Keselowski, Truex, Bobby Labonte, Cassill and Gilliland) were swept up as the others cars began the spin down into the infield and another (Hamlin) spun out by himself and sustained front-end damage. Travis Kvapil, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman avoided the wreck at the back of the pack to take top-ten finishes. Following this crash, Earnhardt, Jr., who had taken a few hard hits in the crash, was diagnosed with a concussion, requiring him to sit out the next two races (Charlotte and Kansas). He was replaced by Regan Smith at both of them.
• 2014 Sprint Unlimited: on lap 36, going through the tri-oval, Matt Kenseth attempted to move to the inside to carry his momentum around the slightly slower car of Brad Keselowski; however, he didn't have enough room and was turned by Joey Logano. As Kenseth came back up the track, he collected Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.. Stewart and Gordon ended up pinned against the wall, with Busch's front end under Gordon's car and Stenhouse's front end under Busch's car. Danica Patrick spun out while trying to miss both the larger crash and the spinning car of Edwards, but she did not hit anything. As her car came to a stop, she was t-boned by the accelerating Stenhouse, who couldn't see because of front-end damage and was trying to make it back to the garage. Kevin Harvick was also involved in the crash, but his damage was only from running through debris.
• 2015 Coke Zero 400: on Lap 161 of 160, the final lap under NASCAR rules on a safety car situation during the penultimate lap, second place Denny Hamlin got tapped by Kevin Harvick, spinning him out in front of the 27 car pack after crossing the finish line. Hamlin drifted back up into traffic and hit the front end of Austin Dillon, causing his car to fly over two other rows of cars, flipping and hitting the fence. The crash collected 24 cars, with the only uninvolved cars being race winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr., second place Jimmie Johnson, and fifth place Kurt Busch. The crash occurred after the cars crossed the finish line, as Hamlin finished third and Harvick fourth, with Dillon finishing seventh.
• 2016 AAA 400 Drive for Autism: on a restart on lap 354, race leader Jimmie Johnson was unable to get his car into third gear and was rear ended by Martin Truex, Jr., stacking up the field behind him. A total of 18 cars were collected in the wreck. In addition to Johnson and Truex, Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, A.J. Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Casey Mears, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Clint Bowyer, Trevor Bayne, Paul Menard, and Michael McDowell were involved.

Xfinity Series

• 1999 Touchstone Energy 300: on lap 68, a massive melee involving 28 cars erupted in turn one. It started when Kelly Denton rammed into Ken Schrader, spinning Schrader four times before his car burst into flames. The other 27 cars who were trying to evade Schrader got into a huge pile-up when Mike Dillon blew a tire.
• 2002 Aaron's 312: on lap 14, the largest crash in modern NASCAR history (1972–present) took place at the exit of turn two, with 31 cars being involved. Three cars (Stacy Compton, Jason Keller and Kenny Wallace) had cleared pole-sitter Johnny Sauter as the field started down the back-straightaway. Scott Riggs (fourth on the outside) tried to pass Wallace on the outside, but checked up, causing Shane Hmiel to get in the back of him. Subsequently, Kevin Grubb bumped Hmiel, causing both Riggs and Hmiel to turn sideways down the track and hit the right-rear of Sauter and the right-front of Joe Nemechek, respectively. The impact from Riggs' car caused Sauter's car to turn sideways and flip twice in the middle of the track, thus blocking the track and causing a massive pile-up behind. The drivers involved were Riggs, Hmiel, Grubb, Sauter, Nemechek, Todd Bodine, Larry Foyt, Jack Sprague, Jeff Purvis, Jimmy Kitchens, Randy Lajoie, Kerry Earnhardt, Tony Raines, Bobby Hamilton, Jr., Ashton Lewis, Mike McLaughlin, Lyndon Amick, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, Scott Wimmer, Ron Hornaday, Jr., Shane Hall, Tim Sauter, Jay Sauter, Michael Waltrip, Joe Ruttman, Jimmy Spencer, Mike Wallace, Mike Harmon, Jeff Fuller and Coy Gibbs. At the time of the crash, 41 of the 43 cars were on the track. Of those, only Compton, Keller and Wallace (who were in front of the crash), and C. W. Smith, Hank Parker, Jr., Casey Mears, Andy Kirby, Tim Fedewa, Larry Gunselman and Chad Chaffin (all of whom either got slowed down in time to miss the crash or had lost the lead draft altogether and were elsewhere on the track) made it through without damage. This crash brought out a 40-minute red flag and caused one minor injury to Mike Harmon (required stitches for biting through his tongue).
• 2008 Aaron's 312: on lap 70, Kevin Lepage had returned to the track following a pit stop and merged onto the track right in front of the field. A few of the lead cars went around Lepage on the outside, but Carl Edwards ran over the back end of Lepage's car, causing Edwards to catch air and set off a 15-car pile up. The drivers involved were Lepage, Edwards, Kyle Busch, David Reutimann, Reed Sorenson, Brad Keselowski, Cale Gale, Patrick Carpentier, Mike Wallace, Kenny Wallace, Steve Wallace, Marcos Ambrose, Stephen Leicht, Kyle Krisiloff and Kelly Bires.
• 2012 DRIVE4COPD 300: In turn 4 on the last lap, leader Kurt Busch attempted to block the two two-car drafts of Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne, and Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler, both of whom had runs on Busch and drafting partner Kyle Busch. They all made contact, with Kurt Busch ending up sideways against the outside wall, Stewart and Sadler being pinned to the wall by Bayne, and Logano being sent spinning across the track as a result of left-rear contact with Kurt Busch's sideways car. Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. both moved to the bottom of the track, but Stenhouse turned Busch into the outside wall as they tried to miss the spinning Logano. A similar fate befell Kasey Kahne and Cole Whitt (who were just behind Busch and Stenhouse), with Kahne moving down into and spinning Whitt. Brad Keselowski, who was behind Whitt, received contact from Kahne and Whitt, causing his car to become out of control. James Buescher, who was 11th when the crash started, got through the crash on the track apron and slipped around Keselowski (as he was trying to regain control of his car) to win, followed by Sadler and Keselowski.
• 2012 Aaron's 312: on lap 117, Michael Annett attempted to push Kevin Harvick, but rammed into him, causing Harvick to spin around in front of the 26 car pack. The cars who were trying to evade Harvick, were spun around. In all, 16 cars were collected in total. Eric McClure took the worst of it, as his car skidded down the track and impacting the wall violenty and injuring him.
• 2013 DRIVE4COPD 300: In the trioval, coming to the checkered flag on lap 120, leader Regan Smith was turned into the outside wall by second-place Brad Keselowski. Chaos ensued behind as 14 out of the 15 lead cars crashed in total. After hitting Smith, Keselowski himself was turned around by Sam Hornish, Jr. and went up the track in front of Kyle Larson, with Larson being turned sideways after he was hit in the back by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.. Larson pushed Keselowski's car right-side first into the wall just as two cars (Brian Scott and Justin Allgaier) from behind this crash impacted the right side Larson's car after they had hit the spinning Regan Smith, causing Larson's car to go airborne and fly up into the catchfence. The front tires and the engine of his car were torn out and landed on the spectator side of the fence as part the fence was torn down by the impact of Larson's car. Simultaneously, Elliott Sadler impacted Regan Smith's spinning car, almost causing it to go airborne as well. Also, past the start-finish line, Alex Bowman spun through the infield and across the track, making hard contact with the outside wall. After Bowman hit the wall, Earnhardt Jr. drove under him, jacking the rear of Bowman's car up in the air (very similar to Kyle Busch's crash in the 2009 Coke Zero 400 when Kasey Kahne drove under him). The drivers involved were Smith, Keselowski, Earnhardt, Hornish, Larson, Scott, Bowman, Sadler, Allgaier, Travis Pastrana, Parker Kligerman, Eric McClure, Robert Richardson, Jr. and Nelson Piquet, Jr.. Race winner Tony Stewart cut down through the infield and back up on the track to escape the melee. 28 spectators were injured, 14 of whom were treated at the infield care center and 14 of whom were taken to nearby hospitals, including seven taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, six more being taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Port Orange, and one being taken to another area hospital. Six of those spectators sustained serious injuries.

External links

• "The Big One"- 10 Notorious Talladega Crashes