Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashes out in possible last Daytona Cup start

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s possible last Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Daytona International Speedway ended with a crash after getting caught up in a massive multicar wreck.

Earnhardt plowed into a spinning Kevin Harvick, who lost a tire on Lap 105 of the Coke Zero 400 and triggered the second big incident of the night. Both were running in the top 10 at the time of the incident.

"The 4 car (Harvick) had a flat and didn't have anywhere to go," Earnhardt said after getting checked and released from the infield care center. "We tried to work our way back up in there. I thought we'd have an opportunity at the end. If I could have done anything different, I don't know."

Earnhardt had made an impresssive recovery, driving back into the top 10 after brushing the wall on Lap 51 and going two laps down. Earnhardt had slowed entering a corner sensing what he thought could be a flattening right rear tire and he made contact with the wall after possible contact from behind by Paul Menard.

The No. 88 Chevrolet required body damage repair before rejoining the race 36th. The pole-sitter was sixth at the time of the accident.

His Hendrick Motorsports crew then reported that the tire removed from the car was not flat.

Earnhardt was able to get one lap back after a huge multicar wreck on Lap 72 and got back on the lead lap after earning the lucky dog, following a caution on Lap 90.

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