Kyle Larson: “I was surprised NASCAR let him race without a bumper cover like that.”

Bristol Motor Speedway installed trackbite on the inside groove of the high banked conrete oval. That application is designed to provided added grip to grooves of the track that aren’t generally preferred. However, it’s also activated by heat.

Lap 2, Kyle Busch lost traction while running in the trackbite. He slid up the track and clipped the left rear of Ryan Blaney. Kyle Busch went around in front of the field in turn 4. Truex, Suarez, Gaulding, Micdowell all made direct contact with the #18.

“Everybody hit Kyle. The dude that started last hit Kyle,” Brett Griffen, spotter for Clint Bowyer stated after the wreck.
Despite contact from 4 cars, the #18 was still rolling. All four fenders were dented, the door was caved in, the deck lid was twisted and the rear bumper cover was knocked completely off. On lap 2, the precision built race car was now correctly shaped for door banging event in Bristol, Tennessee.

“All the rear sheet metal’s KO’d,” Tony Hirschman radioed to the #18 box.

“It definitely looks salvageable. Um, we’ll cut that bumper cover off,” Adam Stevens, crew chief for the #18 responded.