Supercars drivers Cameron Waters and Will Brown both had a wretched run in their one-off NASCAR Cup Series outing at Sonoma Raceway.
Waters, who qualified 31st in the 38-car field, failed to finish after he was taken out in a multi-car crash at the turn 11 hairpin early in Stage 2.
Josh Berry turned his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang into a bowling ball when he lost control and locked up under brakes, sending cars spinning.
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Suspension damage from the crash ultimately took Waters out of contention after 66 laps of the 110-lapper.
Cameron Waters is caught up in the turn 11 mess after Josh Berry lost control of his car. FOX Sports
“We just had too much damage – heaps of steering damage – and we kept trying to fix it, and then we had another little incident right at the end which proper bent the car,” Waters told Speedcafe.com.
“So, bit of a shame. That first run before that, I was having so much fun, it was awesome out there. Car was really speedy.”
Earlier in the race, Brown suffered electrical issues with his Chevrolet Camaro. That caused him to stop out of the turn 11 hairpin early in Stage 2.
Brown eventually finished the race in 31st after starting 24th in his Richard Childress Racing-run Chevrolet Camaro, three laps down on race winner Kyle Larson.
Larson led just 19 laps and made the crucial overtake for the lead on Martin Truex Jr with eight laps remaining.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver ran out of fuel just short of the finish and crawled across the line to take the chequered flag in 27th – much to the amusement of the crowd trackside.
That gifted Michael McDowell second place for Front Row Motorsports while RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher rose to third.
In all, there were eight caution periods for on-track incidents.
The first yellow flag flew just three laps into the race when Denny Hamlin suffered a spectacular engine failure, sending smoke billowing from his Toyota Camry.
Fellow Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs brought out the yellow with 10 laps to go in Stage 1 when he slapped the wall and plucked the right front suspension out.
Early in Stage 2, Brown suffered his electrical gremlins and pulled his car off to the side of the road.
Racing resumed on lap 35 but was short-lived. Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing went wide at turn 10 setting off a chain of events that resulted in Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Clu hitting Berry.
Berry lost control of his car and careered into a pack of cars including Waters. In all, more than 10 cars were caught up in the pile-up.
The carnage continued on lap 40 when Stewart-Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, and McDowell collided through turn eight.
The final 50-lap stage was a much calmer affair. Buescher, who won Stage 2 held sway at the head of the field.
Truex Jr fought his way to the front but it was Larson on newer tyres who made the most headway.
Will Brown in the No.33 Richard Childress Racing Chverolet Camaro. Meg Oliphant via Getty Images
With 10 laps to go, Truex Jr divebombed Buescher for the lead at turn 11 and set himself up for a pass into turn one on the following lap.
Displaced by Truex Jr, Buescher lost out to Larson who rose to second at turn two.
It wasn’t long before Truex Made a mistake at turn four and opened the door for Larson to pass into turn five.
Larson cruised to victory ahead of McDowell and Buescher, leaving Truex Jr to crawl across the line as he ran out of fuel.
The NASCAR Cup Series continues its season at Iowa Speedway on June 17.
Brown and Waters, meanwhile, will return to Australia to compete in the Supercars Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway on June 14-16.