The Texas Motor Speedway today was a massive blow to multiple drivers’ hopes. These include former winners and drivers aiming to secure top 10 positions on the starting grid.

It became the 15th straight O’Reilly race at Texas with at least seven cautions. The last time such a feat occurred was in 2017. So, what do the drivers think after having a poor start to the NASCAR race in Texas?

Corey Day: JR Motorsports

Fresh off his victory at Talladega, Day was among the four drivers eligible for the Dash 4 Cash bonus of $100,000 in today’s race. A solid start from P6 on the grid, his chances looked good until a crash with Taylor Gray and William Sawalich on the opening lap put him out of contention.

Day couldn’t understand what went wrong with his race. “Yeah, I am not sure if the track was just dirty up there from Cup qualifying and knocked these guys running up there or if I just overstepped and ran into the corner too hard. I am really not sure. I really didn’t feel like I ran too fast at the corner to go over the limit of my race car, but apparently I did.”

When asked about his car’s pace, Day confidently said he had good speed and felt dejected because he couldn’t make it to the last laps.

Austin Green: Peterson Racing

A caution on the seventh lap, followed by a wreck on the 18th, officially ended Green’s hopes of winning. Meanwhile, his rival, Mason Maggio, nearly collided with Kasey Kahne’s pace car while trying to return to the track on the seventh lap.

Green, who was sure his car had enough pace for a top-10 finish, felt dumbfounded after his incident. “Not much to comment on. I thought that we were going to have a good day in qualifying.”

“Decent? I mean it’s just chaos. I don’t know; I got spun by whoever, whatever lap it was. I was trying to get through the field, and I don’t know. So, no comment on that, and we will go over to next week and try again,” he said after the race.

Brad Perez: Young’s Motorsports

Perez was running his part-time O’Reilly schedule at the Texas Motor Speedway with Young’s Motorsports. It was his second start this season after a backmarker finish in Martinsville, coming home in P21.

Once again, he could not make much of a difference for his team at Texas. He struck the wall hard, smashing his front and ending the race while collecting Green and Lavar Scott, who were coming in from behind. Flabbergasted that he lost his car in such a bizarre manner, Perez said:

“Just pure racing. Pretty good. I mean, I felt like the people around were really good, and I was running at the top there, trying to get around somebody, and just got loose up top there and lost. I don’t know exactly how close anybody was up to me at that point, but I know somebody was down there. I haven’t seen the replay, but I just lost there.

All my years of doing this, not much. I never lost a race in a wreck like that. I lost a car in qualifying in Kansas, but otherwise I have never wrecked one, losing it on my own accord. But I feel terrible for the team; they are really the main ones I feel terrible for. I mean, I worked pretty hard to be here, and I want to be here more.”

Despite crashing hard into the wall, he remained unscathed. However, the story of chaos at Texas Motor Speedway in today’s race continued to unfold. One after another, more drivers popped their tires and spun out, bringing out multiple caution flags throughout the three stages.

Kyle Larson miraculously saved his car and pulled a three-wide move for the lead. He eventually won on an eventful evening with Justin Allgaier and Brent Crews following behind.