A huge pile-up happened when a bulk of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series field came down pit lane under caution following completion of the first stage of the NuWay 225 at WWTRaceway outside of St. Louis, Missouri. Carson Kvapil won the stage.
Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Dean Thompson, Jeb Burton, Ryan Sieg, Patrick Staropoli, Jeremy Clements, Nicholas Sanchez, Rajah Caruth, and Anthony Alfredo were among the drivers involved. Jones and Caruth were the only playoff drivers who appeared to have damage and were among those stopped in the pit lane.
The high-impact crash happened unexpectedly right in front of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing pit for Brent Crew’s Toyota. The No. 19 tire changers were on the right side of the vehicle when the JR Motorsports No. 88 of Rajah Caruth and Peterson Racing No. 87 of Nick Sanchez came spinning inches away from the pit crew, clipping one. All drivers and crew members were reported okay after the incident.
Bozi Tatarevic, a pit crew member and racing media member, highlighted the quick response of the No. 19 JGR pit crew, including Bryan Backus, Brad Donaghy, and Matt Wilps, as they moved to the front of their car to help shield them.
“I saw it before you said something, but before I knew it, I was off the ground,” Caruth radioed.
NASCAR on The CW Sports interviewed Sanchez post-crash, where the No. 87 driver said that there wasn’t time for his spotter to let him know what was happening as the accordion crash was starting right in front of him.
“No, it’s too fast. You can’t even process it, right? So yeah, unfortunate, and hopefully everyone’s okay off pit road, and nobody’s injured. But yeah, it’s just a shame. Ridiculous.”
Victoria Beaver is a nomadic sports writer who spends her time hopping between race tracks and hippie farms. She’s covered every corner of motorsports that will let her in from 410 Sprints to NASCAR to Supercross. Her daily driver is a 2010 Subaru that she refused to do the smallest amount of preventative maintenance on. Instead, she spends her free time and money building a 42-foot Skoolie to one day travel the country full time.