Austin Dillon has walked away from one of the biggest crashes of recent times in NASCAR racing at the conclusion of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.
The crash occurred as Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the chequered flag while behind cars scattered and Dillon flew through the air and his car tore apart the catch fencing.
After a long rain delay which resulted in the race not starting until 11.42pm local time, it came down to a green-white-chequered finish.
Earnhardt Jr. stayed out in front to take the win while the massive pile-up behind saw amazing scenes as Dillon went for an incredible ride.
Dillon's car was torn apart and even the engine was sent across the grass.
Just as scary was that as his car was upside down, Brad Keselowski slammed into it.
Just about every car still running from third place back was involved in the crash.
As everyone held their breath, crew members and safety crews rushed to scene where they quickly gave the thumbs up and Dillon climbed from the car and walked to the waiting medical crews.
Medical crews were also called to the stands to assist spectators who were showered with debris. NASCAR reported that those injuries were considered minor.
Earnhardt Jr. dominated the race to lead 97 of the 160 scheduled laps, as only Jimmie Johnson appeared to have anything to challenge his Hendrick Motorsports team-mate.
Earnhardt Jr. knew that the safest place was out front and that was confirmed with numerous incidents throughout the race.
The first came on just the second lap of the 160 lap race. That crash was triggered by David Gilliland cutting across Clint Bowyer, which then sent him across the pack and involved Joey Logano, Danica Patrick, Michael Annett, Sam Hornish Jr., Greg Biffle, Jeb Burton, Bobby Labonte and Brendan Gaughan.
Then on lap 104 another “big one” had, amongst others, Matt Kesneth, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Logano, Hornish Jr., and Martin Truex Jr. all involved.
Those incidents on any other race weekend would have been considered major, but nothing like what occurred at the finish.
VIDEO: Dillon flies into the fence
VIDEO: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins
VIDEO: Victory Lane
RESULTS: Coke Zero 400 – Daytona International Speedway
POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | START | LAPS | LAPS LED | FINAL STATUS | POINTS | BONUS PTS |
1 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | 1 | 161 | 96 | Running | 48 | 5 |
2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 12 | 161 | 35 | Running | 43 | 1 |
3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 35 | 161 | 10 | Running | 42 | 1 |
4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 34 | 161 | 0 | Running | 40 | 0 |
5 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 28 | 161 | 0 | Running | 39 | 0 |
6 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 23 | 161 | 0 | Running | 38 | 0 |
7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 2 | 161 | 8 | Running | 38 | 1 |
8 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 17 | 161 | 1 | Running | 37 | 1 |
9 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 5 | 161 | 0 | Running | 35 | 0 |
10 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 3 | 161 | 1 | Running | 35 | 1 |
11 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 15 | 161 | 0 | Running | 33 | 0 |
12 | 55 | David Ragan | Toyota | 8 | 161 | 0 | Running | 32 | 0 |
13 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 22 | 161 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
14 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 31 | 161 | 0 | Running | 30 | 0 |
15 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 9 | 161 | 0 | Running | 29 | 0 |
16 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 4 | 161 | 0 | Running | 28 | 0 |
17 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 13 | 161 | 0 | Running | 27 | 0 |
18 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 21 | 161 | 0 | Running | 26 | 0 |
19 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 30 | 161 | 0 | Running | 25 | 0 |
20 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 25 | 161 | 0 | Running | 24 | 0 |
21 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 7 | 161 | 0 | Running | 23 | 0 |
22 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 33 | 161 | 0 | Running | 22 | 0 |
23 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 20 | 161 | 1 | Running | 22 | 1 |
24 | 7 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 37 | 161 | 0 | Running | 20 | 0 |
25 | 35 | Cole Whitt | Ford | 29 | 161 | 0 | Running | 19 | 0 |
26 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 41 | 161 | 1 | Running | 19 | 1 |
27 | 34 | Brett Moffitt | Ford | 14 | 161 | 1 | Running | 18 | 1 |
28 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 43 | 161 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
29 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Toyota | 32 | 159 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 |
30 | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr | Ford | 11 | 154 | 0 | Accident | 14 | 0 |
31 | 98 | Josh Wise | Ford | 42 | 154 | 1 | Running | 14 | 1 |
32 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 10 | 149 | 5 | Running | 13 | 1 |
33 | 23 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | 39 | 139 | 1 | Running | 0 | 0 |
34 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 36 | 137 | 0 | Running | 10 | 0 |
35 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 27 | 126 | 0 | Accident | 9 | 0 |
36 | 26 | Jeb Burton | Toyota | 40 | 121 | 0 | Running | 8 | 0 |
37 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 18 | 110 | 0 | Running | 7 | 0 |
38 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | 19 | 105 | 0 | Accident | 6 | 0 |
39 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 16 | 103 | 0 | Accident | 5 | 0 |
40 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 6 | 96 | 0 | Running | 4 | 0 |
41 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | 24 | 85 | 0 | Accident | 3 | 0 |
42 | 33 | Brian Scott | Chevrolet | 26 | 85 | 0 | Accident | 0 | 0 |
43 | 32 | Bobby Labonte | Ford | 38 | 2 | 0 | Accident | 1 | 0 |
STANDINGS
POS | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5 | TOP 10 | DNF |
1 | Kevin Harvick | 656 | Leader | 17 | 2 | 12 | 15 | 0 |
2 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 593 | -63 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 1 |
3 | Jimmie Johnson | 589 | -67 | 17 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 0 |
4 | Joey Logano | 581 | -75 | 17 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 0 |
5 | Martin Truex Jr | 569 | -87 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 2 |
6 | Jamie McMurray | 526 | -130 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
7 | Brad Keselowski | 520 | -136 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
8 | Kurt Busch | 508 | -148 | 14 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
9 | Matt Kenseth | 501 | -155 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
10 | Jeff Gordon | 500 | -156 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 1 |
11 | Kasey Kahne | 496 | -160 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
12 | Denny Hamlin | 480 | -176 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
13 | Paul Menard | 480 | -176 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
14 | Ryan Newman | 472 | -184 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
15 | Clint Bowyer | 465 | -191 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
16 | Aric Almirola | 441 | -215 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
17 | Carl Edwards | 408 | -248 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
18 | Kyle Larson | 395 | -261 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
19 | Greg Biffle | 392 | -264 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
20 | Danica Patrick | 386 | -270 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
21 | Austin Dillon | 379 | -277 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
22 | Casey Mears | 378 | -278 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
23 | AJ Allmendinger | 352 | -304 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
24 | David Ragan | 336 | -320 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
25 | Tony Stewart | 331 | -325 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
26 | Sam Hornish Jr | 321 | -335 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
27 | Trevor Bayne | 319 | -337 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
28 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 311 | -345 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
29 | Justin Allgaier | 286 | -370 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
30 | Cole Whitt | 280 | -376 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
31 | David Gilliland | 267 | -389 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
32 | Brett Moffitt | 233 | -423 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
33 | Alex Bowman | 228 | -428 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
34 | Michael Annett | 194 | -462 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
35 | Josh Wise | 185 | -471 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
36 | Matt DiBenedetto | 182 | -474 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
37 | Kyle Busch | 152 | -504 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
38 | Michael McDowell | 111 | -545 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
39 | Jeb Burton | 105 | -551 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
40 | Alex Kennedy | 67 | -589 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
41 | Bobby Labonte | 39 | -617 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
42 | Brian Vickers | 32 | -624 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
43 | Michael Waltrip | 26 | -630 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
44 | Reed Sorenson | 22 | -634 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
45 | Mike Wallace | 8 | -648 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
46 | Ron Hornaday Jr | 2 | -654 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
47 | Ryan Blaney | 0 | -656 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
48 | Landon Cassill | 0 | -656 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
49 | Brian Scott | 0 | -656 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
50 | Ty Dillon | 0 | -656 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
51 | J.J. Yeley | 0 | -656 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
52 | Regan Smith | 0 | -656 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
53 | Chase Elliott | 0 | -656 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
54 | Matt Crafton | 0 | -656 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
55 | Johnny Sauter | 0 | -656 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
56 | Chris Buescher | 0 | -656 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
57 | Boris Said | 0 | -656 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
58 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 | -656 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
59 | Justin Marks | 0 | -656 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
60 | Mike Bliss | 0 | -656 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
61 | Joe Nemechek | 0 | -656 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
62 | Travis Kvapil | 0 | -656 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
63 | Joey Gase | 0 | -656 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
64 | Jeff Green | 0 | -656 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
65 | Erik Jones | 0 | -656 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
66 | Tanner Berryhill | 0 | -656 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |