Alex Bowman triggers ‘the big one’ in the Daytona 500 but escapes damage and comes home second

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Alex Bowman never saw how “the big one” started. He just knew he was involved.

He was surprised to learn he triggered it.

Bowman sparked the crash that involved nearly two dozen cars and knocked six former NASCAR champions out of contention in the Daytona 500 on Monday night.

Bowman was bump-drafting Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron on the backstretch with nine laps to go when Byron lost control, turned into Brad Keselowski and pretty much wrecked the field.

“I can’t even see far enough (ahead) to see that Byron hitting Keselowski is what started it,” Bowman said. “I knew I had William in a spot that I didn’t want to have him in. But we’re all just sort of sandwiched up there.

“I was lifting to try to get off him once he was aimed the wrong place. But we’re all just shoving each other. That’s what speedway racing has kind of become. If it my fault, I didn’t mean to crash anybody by any means.”