"It's a complicated situation": Elton Sawyer delves deeper into Josh Berry and Michael McDowell's airborne chaos at Daytona

Elton Sawyer recently elaborated on Josh Berry and Michael McDowell going airborne at the Daytona International Speedway. The NASCAR Senior VP of Competition outlined the "complicated" aspect of the situation and said the officials have been working on recreating the accident to identify the cause.

The Coke Zero Sugar 400 marked the 25th Cup Series battle with Front Row Motorsports' McDowell as the polesitter and Stewart-Haas Racing's Berry in fifth. As the race progressed and 11 lead changes occurred within the first 29 laps, the latter secured his career-first Stage win. However, both faced a brutal setback in the final stage.

On lap 153 of 164, McDowell led the pack with Austin Cindric closely following the former's rear. The Team Penske driver nudged McDowell's right rear and the FRM driver spun towards the inside lane, coming ahead of Joey Logano. The latter had no time to react, and thus, crashed into McDowell, sending his Ford up in the air. Though McDowell's car didn't flip, it was damaged beyond repair and ended with a DNF.

A few laps later, Josh Berry got wrecked by William Byron. As Berry's #4 Ford slid towards the inside, Cindric's #2 Ford contacted the former's left rear and the SHR driver went airborne. Unlike McDowell, Berry's car became inverted. The #4 Ford, while being upside down, crashed into the inside wall and spun several times before stopping.

Elton Sawyer shed light on the double airborne chaos at Daytona. He claimed the situation as "complicated" and said that early wrecks "showed no signs" of the cars going up in the air. He said (via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on X).

"We had a couple of incidents early in the race single cars were just spinning and showed no indications of getting up in the air. So, again, it's a complicated situation there when you're running the speeds that we're running and you put multiple cars close together and how they affect each other. So, our guys in the back, I know they've been working since Saturday night to recreate all that and still some additional work on our side to be done," Sawyer said (at 0:15).

Though Josh Berry's flip damaged his Ford's front, the driver was unharmed and gave a thumbs-up after exiting the car.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives his take on NASCAR's safety after Josh Berry's Daytona flip

Since the sport's inception at Daytona Beach in 1948, the cars suffered from going airborne after getting wrecked at high speeds. As a result, in 1994, roof flaps were installed to increase the downforce and prevent the cars from lifting. Moreover, an additional flap was placed in the back of the rear diffuser of the NextGen cars in 2022.

However, as explained by Kenny Wallace, the turtle shell bottom leaves no room for the air to escape and in turn, pushes the car further into the air.

After Josh Berry's Daytona race echoed Corey LaJoie's wreck from the previous week's Michigan race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared his views on the harrowing incidents (via X).

"It's been an issue for over 45 years. If you wanna go fast you gonna have to realize the repercussions when it goes wrong," Earnhardt Jr. wrote.

"Don't know that you'll ever rid that particular element of danger," the 49-year-old added.

Amid SHR's shutdown, Josh Berry has secured his 2025 Cup Series seat with Wood Brothers Racing. He will replace the Daytona race winner Harrison Burton.