A huge wreck coming off of Turn 11 at Watkins Glen International Raceway put the Sprint Cup Series' Centurion Boats at the Glen under the red flag with just eight laps to go Sunday.
Nine cars were involved in the big crash that saw David Gililland and Bobby Labonte take some of the hardest hits the NASCAR world has seen at a road course in a long time. Labonte walked away from his car but will be transferred to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The incident started after Michael McDowell got bumped by David Gilliland coming into the final corner of the course. McDowell responded by bumping Gilliland, sending the No. 38 into the tire wall at the exit of the corner.
Because of the nature of the wall, Gilliland's car dug in and then shot back sideways across the track into the path of Labonte who T-boned the Yates Ford. With the track blocked, the back part of the field had nowhere to go after coming off the blind corner, causing multiple cars to get heavily damaged and No. 38 to take a few more hits.
In the mess, Sam Hornish Jr. slid and impacted the end of the pit road wall, sending water-filled drums flying everywhere -- including a lid that nailed the pit road entrance light standard that caused it to sway wildly as the NASCAR official nearby dove for cover and photographers scattered.
Included in the wreck were Labonte, Gilliland, Hornish Jr., Dave Blaney, Max Papis, Reed Sorenson, Michael Waltrip, Ryan Newman, Joe Nemecheck.
As a result of the wreck, the red flag was for over 40 minutes as track workers collected the ruined race cars and cleaned the water up from the canisters at the entrance of pit lane. Gilliland and McDowell were asked to come to the NASCAR hauler at the conclusion of the event to discuss their actions -- though I didn't necessarily see any action from the two that was out of the ordinary for the last ten laps of the race.
