When back-markers attack: Logano vs. Shepherd wasn't the first
Last July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Joey Logano was taken out by 72-year-old Morgan Shepherd on Lap 212 of 305.
Logano was running second to his teammate and eventual race winner Brad Keselowski at the time, while Shepherd was plodding along 16 laps down to the field.
While Logano was frustrated that his day was over prematurely, he wasn't the first to have a slower car ruin his day at the Sprint Cup Series level.
Some may chalk the incident up to Shepherd's age, as Logano did; however, the issue was just a fast car versus a slower car. This was certainly not the first time a slow car has taken out a fast car during a NASCAR race, and it certainly won't be the last.
In 2014, many in the garage criticized Logano's teammate Brad Keselowski when he triggered a multi-car wreck at Talladega Superspeedway while running multiple laps down.
Sticking with Talladega Superspeedway, Kevin Lepage took out the majority of the field during a NASCAR Nationwide Series race in 2008 when he came up on the track ahead of the pack after exiting pit road.
During a Nationwide Series race at Texas in 2011, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch were battling hard for the race lead when the slow car of Tim Schendel cut a tire and shot up the track in front of Busch's car. Needless to say, Busch's chance at victory was gone.
That wasn't the first time a strong Nationwide Series run by Busch was ruined by a lapped car, either. In 2009 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Busch was taking the lead from Kevin Harvick when the lapped car of Chase Austin came down the track into Busch's car, wrecking both drivers.
In 2004, Jeff Gordon had a great run going at Darlington Raceway when Tony Stewart gave the slow car of Andy Hillenburg a shove, sending him sliding down the track and then back up the banking. As Hillenburg sat in the racing groove, Gordon came along and plowed right into the side of his car.
Slower cars taking out fast cars is nothing new, it's an issue that is as old as NASCAR.
Back in 1977, a great run by Lennie Pond at Darlington Raceway was ruined when the slow car of Ralph Jones lost it and sent both cars into the outside wall. Jones' car then shot hard into the inside wall, knocking out the driver and instantly catching fire.
