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BRISTOL, Tenn.
The words were simple, but telling: “I wasn't clear.”
That's all Casey Mears could muster sitting in his wrecked No.5 Chevrolet after he cut off Michael Waltrip, causing a seven-car pileup that collected two drivers – Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer – still trying to fight their way into the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Carl Edwards won the race.
Mears passed Waltrip on Lap 217 of Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Turn 1. Just as he did, Mears' spotter, Eddie Masencup, said “Clear, clear” over the radio, but Mears wasn't.
He turned into Waltrip's No. 55 Toyota which ignited the multi-car wreck that required a nearly 13-minute red-flag to clean the track of debris.
“I like my spotter; he's a good guy, but man that was ridiculous,” Mears said after the wreck. “We took a bunch of cars out for no reason. I was just running along, heard “clear, clear” and went up there and there was someone (Waltrip) still there.
“I'm pretty upset about it. There were a lot of people that got involved in that which shouldn't have been involved because it shouldn't have happened.”
Also involved in the wreck were Robby Gordon, Reed Sorenson and Sam Hornish Jr. Kahne and Bowyer had the most to lose.
The wreck dropped Kahne out of the top 12 in points and left Bowyer clinging to 12th – the final cutoff spot.
“It's disappointing because we're going to take a hit in the Chase points, but that's the risk you run here at Bristol,” Kahne said. “I love racing here at Bristol – it's a great place with great fans. It was just a bad deal tonight.”
Kahne, Sorenson, Mears, Gordon and Hornish were immediately knocked out of the race. Bowyer continued on, but suffered serious damage to the nose of his No. 07 Chevrolet.
Immediately after the accident, Bowyer thought Waltrip had started the wreck and chimed in over his team radio, “Michael Waltrip is the worst driver in NASCAR. Period.”
Hornish took a hit in his hunt to keep his No. 77 Dodge in the top 35 in car owner points, which guarantees a spot in next weekend's race.
Before the accident, Hornish clung to a 13-point lead over the 36th position.
