The crash started when then rookie Kurt Busch, Rob Morgan, and Lyndon Amick were racing three-wide through the tri-oval front straightaway. In the exact moment Bodine moved to get around the outside of the trio, Morgan was turned across Busch's nose into the side of Amick's truck, who was at the bottom. Amick's truck was damaged in the contact, which caused it to veer hard right, pushing Morgan into Bodine who was on the outside. The contact between Morgan's front right tire and Bodine's front left tire caused the front of Bodine's truck to vault upwards over the outside retaining wall, sending his truck into the catch fencing nose first, at a speed of nearly .