MWR teammates collide while running inside the top five

What looked like a strong – and much-needed – night for Michael Waltrip Racing fell apart quickly when teammates Clint Bowyer and David Ragan wrecked while both were running in the top-five.

Exiting Turn 2 on Lap 370 of 500, Jimmie Johnson, Ragan and Bowyer got three-wide with Johnson on the outside. As Johnson came down the track, Ragan came down as well and into the right-front of Bowyer.

Ragan’s No. 55 Toyota was sent spinning and slammed into the interior wall. He took his car to the garage for repairs to his radiator.

“It looks like (Johnson) jumped to our outside and I was racing for position and then Clint was on the inside,” Ragan said. “I feel bad because I know Clint can’t afford anything bad to happen.”

Bowyer spun but collected himself and was able to resume racing on the restart on Lap 380 and running back in the Top 10.

Entering the race, neither driver had a win and was locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The issue comes on the heels of the announcement this week that MWR would not field any fulltime entries in the Cup series in the 2016 season.