Some drivers critical of NASCAR for not calling caution for rain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Denny Hamlin was among those who criticized NASCAR for not calling a caution for rain before several cars lost traction and wrecked Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

The race was stopped after 139 of 160 laps when 13 cars were collected in a crash as the field slid through Turn 1 and bounced off each other.

Hamlin was leading when he lost traction and took several hard hits.

Asked what could be done to avoid a situation like that, Hamlin said: “Better officiating, that’s all we can do … we’ll learn from this, I’m sure.”

Hamlin said it was raining on the front stretch on that lap.

Justin Haley, also collected in the incident, said the caution should have been called sooner.

“They had about a whole lap to call a caution and tore up a lot of race cars,” Haley said. “That was pretty unacceptable.”

#NASCAR … Justin Haley on the rain before that accident … pic.twitter.com/Z5Y0WNQIRP

— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) August 28, 2022

Kyle Busch told NBC Sports’ Parker Kligerman that he didn’t see any rain the previous lap.

“That lap … it just dropped,” Busch said. “What do you do? You can’t check up that fast. You’ve just got to try to drive through it. Thankfully, I was on the high side. I saw water and saw everything and everybody wrecking in front of me.”

Tyler Reddick told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns that he wrecked just seconds after he noticed the rain.

Daniel Suarez, also eliminated in the crash, said NASCAR should have reacted sooner.

“We knew the rain was coming,” Suarez said. “It was raining next door. It’s just a matter of time. Why wait for it? I don’t know. I’m a little biased because I was in the front.”

Asked about a calling a caution sooner, Suarez said: “They have a lot of technology up there