TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Jamie McMurray doesn't remember ever flipping a stock car, and he probably hopes he doesn't remember the nasty flips of his crash in practice Friday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.
McMurray was uninjured in the crash, triggered by a blown left rear tire, sending McMurray into the path of Ryan Newman. The Chip Ganassi Racing car turned over, slid a little bit on its roof and then flipped into the inside catch fence. It did about seven rolls before finally coming to rest.
.@jamiemcmurray walked away under his own power after this incident at @TalladegaSuperS. pic.twitter.com/Xp6XiVHl9g
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 27, 2018
"It just wouldn't stop," McMurray said. "As it started rolling, the impacts weren't that bad and I'm just like I want it to stop rolling. I'm just thankful that no one else hit me while you're upside-down or when you come to a stop.
"It goes really slow. When I realized I was going to flip, I actually shut my eyes because I don't really want to see what's getting ready to happen. And it seemed like forever. I opened my eyes a couple of times and I didn't know if I was going up or down or when it was going to hit next."
The cars of McMurray, Newman, Ty Dillon and Daniel Suarez were damaged in the accident; they will go to backup cars and start at the rear of the field Sunday.
"Once you start rolling, you don't have any control," McMurray said. "You can't tell what's up or what's down, you're spinning so fast. Honestly, the whole time it was flipping, I was like, 'Just, please, land on the right way up so I can get out.'
"You just never know if there is going to be a fire. We had run only four or five laps; you know you have a full tank of fuel."
McMurray was able to climb out of the car without assistance.
"The impacts were much less than I expected -- you are just getting beat around," McMurray said. "The biggest struggle is you can't tell where [the impact] is coming from."
This is the first race at Talladega where there is no rule as far as minimum height clearance between the body of the car and the ground. NASCAR has done extensive testing to try to keep the cars from getting airborne, and McMurray said he didn't know if there was anything that could be done to prevent his flip, where he turned and then was T-boned.
"I'm not that guy to answer that question," McMurray said. "I have no idea."