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NASCAR Watkins Glen Final Lap Crash Video: Watch David Reutimann Go Airborne

Richard Langford@@noontide34X.com LogoCorrespondent IAugust 15, 2011

It was one wild, topsy-turvy final-lap NASCAR finish at Watkins Glen—emphasis on the topsy-turvy. This race saved the best for last.

On the final lap, Boris Said got into the back of David Ragan. That sent Ragan hard into the wall. Ragan then drifted back into the track careening into David Reutimann.

Reutimann then slammed even harder into the wall and went airborne and landed upside down. He and his car bounced and skidded before flipping back upright and stopping.

Remarkably, he walked away.

That crash was just part of an intense finish. Paul Menard got into the wall with just five laps to go, and that set the stage for this wild green-white-checkered finish.

Kyle Busch had the lead on the restart with Marcus Ambrose and Brad Keselowski right behind. They were all shooting for the same gap coming out of the restart, and Busch drifted high into the corner. As he tried to slide back in line, he got knocked off line and wobbled—he was able to maintain control, but not before Ambrose was pulling ahead with the lead.

Tony Stewart also got loose on the final lap and ended up on the infield grass. He was running seventh at the time, and the drop is going to cost him some needed Cup points.

The action of this race really picked up as the race went along. Kurt Busch blew a tire early and hit a wall. Denny Hamlin saw his accelerator stick and slammed hard into the wall in Turn 1 (watch it here). Other than two equipment malfunctions, the race was fairly clean...until this big finish.

Amazingly, all drivers appeared to sustain nothing more than minor injuries. Marcus Ambrose registered his first-career Sprint Cup Series win.