Less than 15 minutes into Friday’s final Cup practice at Talladega SuperSpeedway, Jamie McMurray had a left-rear tire go down and spun in front of Ryan Newman.
After contact with Newman’s Chevrolet, McMurray’s Chevy rolled over multiple times.
“It just wouldn’t stop,” McMurray said after leaving the infield care center. “As it started rolling, the impacts weren’t that bad. I just want it to stop rolling at this point. I’m just thankful that no one else hit me while you were upside down or when you come to a stop.
“It goes really slow. When I realized I was going to flip, I actually shut my eyes — I don’t really want to see what is going to happen — and then it seemed like forever. I opened my eyes a couple of times and I don’t know if I’m going up or down or where it’s going to hit next.’’
The accident occurred in a drafting pack of about 20 cars.
“I survived another one,” Newman said on FS1. “Thank The Man Upstairs. Obviously, (McMurray) blew or cut a left rear tire and turned sideways in front of me. I was on the brakes, but when you’re going 260 - whatever we’re doing - there’s nothing we can do.”
McMurray had the fastest lap in practice at the time with a speed of 203.975 mph. Ty Dillon (203.610 mph) and Daniel Suarez (203.079) had the second and third fastest times.
Suarez and Dillon - who was fastest in the first practice session - also were involved in the incident.
All four drivers involved in the incident will go to backup cars.
.@jamiemcmurray walked away under his own power after this incident at @TalladegaSuperS. pic.twitter.com/Xp6XiVHl9g
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 27, 2018
After looking at the LR tire off the car of @jamiemcmurray, it was determined that the tire was going down prior to his spin, likely due to either a puncture from debris on track or a rub of some kind. Fender rubs are more common w/ the '18 ride height rule at Talladega & Daytona
— Goodyear Racing (@GoodyearRacing) April 27, 2018