Just a couple of laps short of the halfway point in Saturday night's NASCAR Cup race at Richmond Raceway, chaos broke out as drivers battled in the middle of the field.
After contact with Ross Chastain and Brad Keselowski, Busch dove to the bottom of the track in an effort to get under Chase Briscoe. Busch ran into the back of Briscoe instead, sending him spinning up the track. Justin Haley plowed into the accident scene, sustaining race-ending damage while several other cars made contact as they attempted to slow down and avoid the spinning car.
Chase Elliott's day ends early after a huge crash late in stage two.
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 17, 2025
📺 USA Network pic.twitter.com/38xd3aIiSq
Chase Elliott was one of the drivers lucky enough to navigate the way through the wreck, but his good fortune would not last. Just as he cleared the smoke and carnage, he collided with Busch as the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet came back down the track.
Elliott crashed hard, nearly taking teammate William Byron with him as he slammed the outside wall. His race was over, suffering his first DNF of the 2025 season and ending his shot at the regular season championship.
“I have no idea what happened," said Elliott after being released from the infield care center. "I saw them crashing and were all stacking up, trying to get stopped. After the wreck was over, I thought we were done wrecking and I was just trying to squeak by. I guess somebody didn't know I was down there. I guess Kyle didn't know I was to the left.
“Whoever was next to me [Zane Smith] and myself were trying to get through the accident, and we were coming through there at a decent rate. Unfortunately, Kyle just didn't know that we were on the bottom. Hate that. We had a good start to the night, and it slowly unraveled until it finally fell apart. Hopefully, I get on a better stretch, starting next week."
Major implications for a regular-season championship contender. @chaseelliott was inches away from making it through the pileup at @RichmondRaceway. pic.twitter.com/2lHlyFFn35
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 17, 2025
