Apr. 23—TALLADEGA — The Big One at Talladega Superspeedway was so big it overshadowed the result.
During Saturday's ARCA Menards General Tire 200, a big wreck with 26 laps to do took enough time to clean up that the race was shortened.
After a delay of about 18 minutes under a red flag, the race restarted at 1:50 p.m. and slated 22 more laps to the checkered flag. There was a caveat, however: because the NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 was set to start at 3 p.m. on the same track, the ARCA race would end with the first flag, whether it was a caution or the checkered. There would be no overtime.
Talladega Superspeedway has no lights, so delaying the start of the Xfinity race would mean the sun could set before the event would finish. Also, this is a common decision when an ARCA race is followed by another series race at the same track and is being broadcast on national television.
"That next flag was going to end the race, so it was kind of tick, tick, tick," said Nick Sanchez, who eventually was declared the winner.
The caution came first, when Daniel Dye spun out in the No. 43 car with nine laps to go. Even though he didn't hit anybody else before settling on the infield, the caution came out, and the race ended.
Sanchez was just ahead of second-place Bret Holmes of Munford and third-place Corey Heim. It marked Sanchez' second ARCA win after taking first at Kansas last year.
"To win you've got to be there at the last lap," Sanchez said. "I only led the last lap. That's the only lap that counts."
As for the major wreck, it happened with 26 laps left when Toni Breidinger spun out in the No. 25 car. As part of the cluster, Willie Mullins spun 180 degrees in the No. 3 car, and Richard Garvie went airboard when he drove right over the passenger's side of Mullins' car.
The worst was yet to come on the wreck, however, as Scott Melton didn't appear to slow down a bit as he plowed into the side of Eric Caudell's car.
Melton appeared to be the only driver seriously hurt. He remained in his car until emergency vehicles converged on his No. 69 car after it settled on the infield. Workers cut the roof off the car, which allowed emergency personnel to reach Melton. He was taken off on a stretcher. He was alert, however, and gave the Talladega Superspeedway crowd a thumbs up.
According to catchfence.com, a spokesman for Melton's team, Kimmel Racing, said Melton is in stable condition at an Alabama hospital and has suffered a compound fracture in his left leg.
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