From Denny Hamlin’s Horrifying Airborne Wreck to Chase Elliott’s Fiasco: 5 of the Worst Wrecks in Coke Zero Sugar 400 History

This weekend is the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway. The race marks the final race of regular season and the last chance for many drivers to qualify for the Playoffs. This iconic superspeedway has borne witness to a number of great races over the course of its tenure since 1959. Now, this year’s edition has a lot of eyeballs on it, thanks to Chase Elliott, who is pretty desperate to qualify for the Playoffs.

Additionally, the race track has seen a fair number of ‘Big One’ wrecks. Among them, were some truly frightening ones that involved Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Jimmie Johnson and more. So the big question is, will Elliott try and stay accident free and succeed, or will he be one of the many Big One victims.

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2012 Coke Zero Sugar 400: Jimmie Johnson goes hard into the wall

This incident occurred very late in the race, with 37 laps to go. As it turned out, a few cars dove down pit road for fuel and tyres. At the same time, Michael Waltrip tagged Jimmie Johnson into a spin. The Hendrick Motorsports star slid towards the inside wall and collided headfirst with the soft wall on the front stretch. Meanwhile, Waltrip took out Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Bill Elliott, Regan Smith, and Martin Truex Jr. It wasn’t Waltrip’s fault because he had to check up to avoid the cars going on pit road.

Denny Hamlin takes flight at Daytona

During the 2013 Cup race at the Daytona International Speedway, there was a scary wreck. It all started when Denny Hamlin inexplicably lost control of his car and spun towards the outside wall. The #20 car of Matt Kenseth did his best to avoid his teammate, but got collected in the process, by Jeff Gordon and David Reutimann. Unfortunately, the ride was not over for Hamlin, as the #51 of AJ Allmendinger and the #7 of Dave Blaney rammed into his car. The impact sent his car briefly airborne, before landing, and the entire accident brought out a red flag.

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Kyle Busch just ‘Hanging Around’ during the 2014 Coke Zero Sugar 400

This massive accident knocked out 26 cars, which is more than half the field. Greg Biffle was the root cause when he punted Kasey Kahne into a spin, and Kahne collected an unsuspecting Joey Logano. Drivers began to check up, but that only resulted in them being collected in the wreck. At one point, Cole Whitt bumped into a wrecking Kyle Busch, and turned him over on his roof. Busch was in a surprisingly cheeky mood, as he said on the radio, “Just having a good old time, here”, and his crew chief joked whether he was ‘just hanging around’.

Somehow, Austin Dillon walked away from this crash

During the 2015 Coke Zero Sugar 400, Austin Dillon’s guardian angel must have gotten a massive pay rise. This crash occurred, close to the finish, as the pack raced to the checkered flag. Unfortunately, things went pear-shaped when Kevin Harvick tapped Denny Hamlin from behind. This triggered a massive wreck that wiped out at least 24 cars. Hamlin’s car then bumped into Austin Dillon at such an angle that it flipped. The #3 car vaulted over two car lanes in the air, straight into the catch fence, ripping out the engine. According to reports, the impact into the fence was at around 190 miles per hour and the car came to an almost complete stop. The car also ripped a 60 foot gaping hole and a bent post in the catchfence. The ride from Hell was not over, as the car landed upside-down on the track and Brad Keselowski accidentally struck the wreck. The Team Penske driver was innocent, because his car hit an oil slick and lost control.

Race leaders trigger The Big One in 2021

During the 2021 edition of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, Chase Elliott was leading the race when he got wrecked out. The incident occurred in the dying moments of the race, and just a few seconds earlier, Joey Logano brushed the wall, and his race-winning bid was done. Elliott led from Denny Hamlin and Matt DiBenedetto, when the latter overtook Hamlin for 2nd. Then, he went and challenged for the race win, swooping around the outside of Elliott. Elliott tried to block, but it came too late and the two of them wrecked, dragging Hamlin with them. This triggered The Big One and brought out the 7th caution of the night. Chris Buescher and Ryan Blaney were among the few escapees, along with Corey LaJoie and Austin Dillon.

Now, one has to wonder whether the 2023 edition of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 will be just as chaotic. If it is, for Elliott’s and Bubba Wallace’s sakes, they had better stay clean if they want to stand a chance of making the Playoffs.

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