The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway was red flagged for an unexpected reason.

The pace car was late getting on to pit road before the restart to begin the second stage of Sunday’s race and slid into the barrels which provide protection to the end of the inside wall on the racetrack.

When the car hit the barrels, sand from inside littered the pit lane. The crew at the track has gotten the sand cleared away and the cars are refired.

“He made a late decision,” Chase Elliott joked on the radio.

Joey Logano won the first stage of Sunday’s race. Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Logano and Tyler Reddick are racing for a championship.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Phoenix race: Pace car hits barrels in Cup championship