What caused early Daytona melee?

There were 14 drivers already locked in before the green flag with Tyler Reddick holding a 29-point advantage for the penultimate spot. This matters because in the case of a new winner from below the cutline, the driver lowest in points between them would be eliminated.

Reddick suffered marginal damage in the first crash of the night but then Bowman was outright eliminated from the race in a multi-car incident with 12 laps remaining in the first stage.

“When they crash in front of you, there is nothing I could have done differently,” Bowman said.

With a push from Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace converged down on Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. This was also notable for Busch, a two-time Cup series champion, who needed nothing short of a win to make the playoffs as well on Saturday night.

There were 11 drivers designated as involved and amongst them was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who also needed nothing short of a win to advance into the Round of 16.

Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

“I was in the position that we wanted to be,” Stenhouse said. “It felt like we were gonna kind of going to run fifth or sixth, and try to finish the stage out but, yeah, it didn’t happen.”

“I feel like I had a car that could win and felt really, really good. I was stable, felt like I had a little more speed than I normally feel like I have, which I was excited about. I felt like I put my car in really good spots, went from the back to the front like we normally do.”

“Blame Bubba Wallace”

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Wallace took blame for the incident, albeit with a little bit of sarcasm laced into his commentary.

“I need another look at it but it looks like I was three-wide and (Larson) hit me and got me down there, and it is what it is,” Wallace said. “I hate it that we got tore up and tore up a bunch of cars. I think I looked and it was blame Bubba Wallace National Day today so I’ll take the blame for it.”

Similar to Stenhouse, Noah Gragson needed to win to make the playoffs and he just didn’t understand why there was so much side-by-side racing with the leaders mixing it up halfway through the first stage.

“We’re only on lap 27, 28 and there are guys trying to make it four-wide at the front of the pack,” Gragson said. “I was just collateral damage at that point. It’s definitely a bummer, but I’m still super proud of our team. We started almost towards the back, 32nd I think, and we were up in the top 10 20 laps in, so it’s not from a lack of effort.”

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Austin Cindric is already locked into the playoffs but shared the sentiments from Gragson that it was too early for this level of aggression.

“I thought I made it through the bulk of it and then (Wallace) came back up across the racetrack, so yeah, it’s just a shame and not really sure what else we can do there,” Cindric said. “I take responsibility for us losing track position early.

“But just kind of middle lane stacked and the intensity was just picking up way too early for this race, but yeah, I’m totally fine.”

Again, the math is simple for Bowman, because a new winner from below the cutline eliminates him and he has nothing to do for the rest of the race but watch and see how it unfolds.

“I don’t own a jet so I’m going to stick around unless my bosses decide otherwise,” Bowman said. “I’m on Jeff Gordon’s time so I’m sure he’s going to stick around. I’m going to cheer my teammates on. There’s still thee chances for Hendrick Motorsports to win and they have really fast cars and I hope it works out for them.”

And again, if any of them win, it’s good for Bowman too, because it locks him into the Field of 16.