'Big one' strikes at Daytona 500, wrecks majority of field in Stage 3

It took a while, but the “big one” has happened in the 66th running of the Daytona 500.

With just eight laps to go and the racing as intense as it’s been all night, Alex Bowman got a big run on his teammate, William Byron, sending him into the No. 6 Ford of Brad Keselowski. Keselowski shot up the track and into Joey Logano, collecting a host of cars behind them. Within seconds, the infield area in Turns 3 and 4 looked like a parking lot.

One more look at what happened from @NASCARONFOX. #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/daN5ocVhqa

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 20, 2024

In total, 22 cars were involved in the Lap 192 wreck. Ross Chastain, the race leader at the time, was not one of them. The watermelon man remains in the race and going for his first-career Daytona 500 victory. The red flag is currently out at Daytona International Speedway.

Heavy hitters caught up in ‘big one’ at Daytona 500

Among those caught up in the wreck: Logano, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Chris Buescher and reigning Daytona 500 champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Keselowski, now up to nine DNFs in 15 Daytona 500 starts, gave his take on what happened to cause the “big one.”

“I got hit from the back. Just one of those deals at this track,” Keselowski told FOX Sports. “We got caught up in it, just glad to be competitive and glad to have a chance. We were almost leading the Daytona 500, that’s all you can ask for with eight laps to go.”

Logano, who sat on the pole and led the most laps up to that point, said he was “pissed off” that his run for Daytona 500 victory No. 3 was over.

“I was just riding up the top and Brad got turned up into me … Just a bummer. It’s speedway racing,” Logano said, via Performance Racing Network. “It’s a lot of fun until it sucks and I’m on that end of it today.”

With four laps remaining, the top-five is as follows: Chastain, Byron, Bowman, Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott