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Hey Mom, Dad? Can I still drive in the Daytona 500?

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With less than 10 laps to go in the 2019 1000Bulbs.com 500, a major crash ended the chances for many NASCAR drivers, including Brendan Gaughan, when his car flipped in the air.

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Brendan Gaughan plans to run next year’s Daytona 500 but the 44-year-old admits that after flipping in Monday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, he might need to get the permission of his parents.

“You might have to call Michael Gaughan or Paula Gaughan right now to ask that question because I think right now neither of them are very happy at the moment,” Gaughan said after emerging from the infield care center unscathed after his crash.

“In 22 years of NASCAR racing — I’ve flipped a ton in the desert — I’ve never flipped a stock car until now. So my mother and father might be a little upset. I’m 44, but I still have a mommy and a daddy. I think they’re probably a little hot right now but I’ll cool them down.”

Gaughan was a victim in an 11-car crash that brought out the caution on Lap 183 of the 188-lap race when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch got together at the front of the field. The contact sent Busch up the track into Gaughan’s car and Brad Keselowski’s car. Gaughan’s car turned left, got hit by Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto and rolled over once before landing on its wheels. Gaughan finished 27th.

Asked what he saw of Gaughan’s aerobatics, DiBenedetto said: “I was like, ‘Oh crap! He’s going upside down.’ My nose got into him and then I just saw him flip over me.”

Told he had nailed the landing, Gaughan joked: “No, they said the Russian judge, politics, he docked me a couple of points. He said I didn’t put them all down at the same time. Politics are nasty right now, so screw them.”

But the incident didn’t take away Gaughan’s love for racing at these tracks. He was making his fourth Cup start of the season. He’s run both Daytona and Talladega races this season.

“I was having a great time,” Gaughan said of before the wreck. “We were up front. I show up, what, four times a year and people think I’m crazy for loving this racing, but I love racing at Daytona and Talladega. I enjoy the crap out of this.

“When I come with the Beard family and the Chevrolet that they give me with that ECR engine that Richard (Childress) gives me and a little bit of help, we come to be here for the win. We had a chance to win. That’s all I can ask for.”

While Gaughan could joke about it, Ryan Newman, wasn’t happy to see a car get airborne even if contact played a role.

“Just happy that he got out of his race car,” Newman said of Gaughan. “It’s still disappointing to me to see that after 50 years we’re still flying race cars.”