A massive 25-car crash shortly after a restart in NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on the Naval Base Coronado halted the 60-lap event for more than 40 minutes while track workers repaired the second-turn wall on the 3.4-mile street course. No drivers were seriously injured in the accident that caused the event’s second red flag and immediately eliminated Sam Mayer, Anthony Alfredo and William Sawalich. A dejected Mayer took responsibility for the crash that occurred on lap 35 as the race restarted following the fifth caution period. Mayer cut turn two too close to the right-side wall, hit it, and then shot back across the track into the front of the field.“I just want to say sorry to everybody in the field,” Mayer said after exiting the infield care center. “I’m looking at the people who are involved in the crash and it’s literally everybody. Sorry to all the people that have to put work in now because of my mistake. I’m going to have to go around the whole garage and apologize and that’s never a fun feeling.” Alfredo said the crash knocked the breath out of him and banged up both of his legs “a little bit.” “I had a little trouble getting out of the race car,” Alfredo said. “Sam apologized to me in there (infield care center). “I’m glad if we had to have a big wreck like that, it was at the front racing for the win and not in the back. It just sucks to not see that through. That was one of the best race cars I’ve ever driven, and being competitive on a road course is something I’ve been working towards for a long time.” Mayer, who restarted fourth following the fifth caution period, said the track’s visuals were difficult. “With not having an inside catch fence, it’s hard to see the inside wall when you’re following people,” Mayer said. “I knew that it was getting down to crunch time and I had to be a little more aggressive on restarts to not get put three wide. I felt like I was going to have a pretty decent run because the (No.) 99 (Parker Retzlaff) didn’t get that good of a restart. I just got a little too aggressive and it bit me today and, obviously, got everyone else involved.”Anthony Alfredo waves while being carted away. Others involved in the 25-car crash were Preston Pardus, Brennan Poole, Jeremy Clements, Alex Labbe, Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Brad Perez, Brent Crews, Brandon Jones, eventual winner Austin Hill, Harrison Burton, Dean Thompson, Jeb Burton, Blaine Perkins, Andrew Patterson, Ryan Sieg, Baltazar Leguizamon, Austin Green, Rajah Caruth and Leland Honeyman Jr. Workers needed 43 minutes 10 seconds to repair the severely damaged wall.The race’s first red flag occurred before the 37-car field completed one lap. During the United Rentals Driven To Serve 250’s first lap, a manhole cover that had been welded shut came loose and slammed through the front grill on Corey Day’s Chevrolet destroying the radiator. Workers needed 18 minutes 34 seconds to weld the cover back in place and then check the more than 150 utility covers, valves and electrical boxes that NASCAR and the Navy Seabees had welded shut prior to the event. Due to the circumstances, NASCAR allowed Day’s crew to repair his car during the red flag. After returning to the track during yellow flag conditions, NASCAR allowed Day to make up the four laps he lost on the track before the race returned to green. Day eventually finished 10th.
