Two 'Big Ones' take out XFINITY favorites at Talladega

A pair of "Big Ones" in the waning laps of Stage 1 and at the end of Stage 2 knocked several Talladega heavyweights out of contention during Saturday's NASCAR XFINITY Series race. Both also brought out the red flag.

The first, which came on Lap 20, forced William Byron, Brandon Jones and Daniel Hemric from the race -- all were running in the front pack early. Brennan Poole, who nearly won last spring on a final caution, was put one lap down.

Contact between Poole and Daniel Suarez appeared to trigger the incident, as Suarez's No. 18 and Poole's No. 48 both ended up high in the wall and careening down the track.

The second wreck, occurring on Lap 49 (the second stage concluded at Lap 50), took out front-runners Ryan Reed and Brendan Gaughan, while polesitter Blake Koch and rookie Cole Custer were involved as well. Reed had run up front all race and won the most recent restrictor-plate event this season at Daytona.

Aric Almirola raised his hand to take the blame for the seven-car wreck on Lap 49. He was attempting to push Reed forward and inadvertently got the No. 16 Ford sideways. Nine cars were affected in the first "Big One."

"I'm sorry. I tried to give him a push. My bad," Almirola radioed to his team.

After checking out OK from the infield care center, Reed voiced his frustrations.

"We had a really fast car, so that made the racing a lot more fun for us, but with this low downforce you're really at other people's mercy on how they push you," the Roush Fenway Racing driver said. "Aric got careless there and he took the blame for it, but I think it being Saturday and him not racing here that often he was a little more careless. ... I wish he would have taken a little more time, especially that early on, and give us a little more respect because we do race in the series every week. We're racing for a championship and he's not, and I feel like he owes us that respect, so I'm frustrated."