Keselowski, Logano involved in crash early at Bristol

Apr 19, 2015 - 8:13 PM Bristol, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Team Penske drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano wrecked and sustained heavy damage to their cars 19 laps into Sunday's scheduled 500-lap Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The start of the Food City 500 at this half-mile, high-banked oval was delayed more than an hour due to rain. Keselowski started second and Logano sixth, and both drivers were running among the top-five at the time of their incident.

Keselowski got loose coming out of turn 4 while he was attempting to pass a lapped car. He then turned sideways and hit the wall. Keselowski then collected Logano as he slid down the track. Logano had been running right behind his teammate before they made contact.

"Brad just got loose while he was trying to pass a lapped car, and he started checking up and looked like he was going to have it saved, but he checked up more than I expected, and the next thing I know is that I'm in the back of him," Logano said.

Their accident forced the first caution in this race. Rain started falling on the track again during the caution period, prompting NASCAR officials to display the red flag and halt the event when 22 laps had been completed.

"It's been raining since we started the race, but it was just a light sprinkle and the track was just barely dry," Keselowski said. "The rain was coming in and out. The car just took off on me. I would like to blame it on the rain, but I honestly don't know.

"Usually when a car gets that far sideways and it's out of nowhere, there's a reason behind that. I just really hate that I tore up my teammate (Logano) in the process. That's really a bummer. I felt like I had a pretty normal line, and it just moved crazy sideways on me. Just a bummer for everybody at Team Penske to tear up both cars that way."

Keselowski suffered damage to the left rear of his No. 2 Ford, while Logano had front end damage to his No. 22 Ford. Their crew members were not allowed to make repairs on the cars during the red flag period.

It had been raining in the Bristol area throughout the morning and early afternoon. After the track had been dried, NASCAR was able to start this race around 2:30 p.m. local time. But shortly after the green flag had waved, it began to sprinkle.

"I hate racing in the rain, but I understand the position that NASCAR is in to get the race going," Keselowski. "This is one of those days when it's just going to keep raining on and off."

Matt Kenseth started on the pole and led the first five laps before Kevin Harvick, the defending Sprint Cup champion, passed Kenseth and then ran in front for the next 17 laps.

On Saturday, Logano won the Xfinity Series race at Bristol after leading all 300 laps.

Logano also won the Sprint Cup night race at this track last August. Keselowski finished second in that event.

Both drivers have won a race in NASCAR's top series this season, with Logano scoring the victory in the Feb. 22 Daytona 500 and Keselowski in the March 22 event in Fontana, California.