{"id":330166,"date":"2025-12-07T11:02:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T11:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/330166\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T11:02:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T11:02:08","slug":"nascar-champion-mourns-fellow-drivers-death-at-39-glad-he-is-no-longer-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/330166\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR champion mourns fellow driver\u2019s death at 39: \u2018Glad he is no longer suffering\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski was among those to react to the stunning news of former driver Michael Annett\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Annett, 39, passed away on Friday. No cause of death has been reported, but Keselowski seemed to have some insight on the situation. <\/p>\n

\u201cI remember this day vividly,\u201d Keselowski wrote on X <\/a>while resharing a video of Annett winning the ARCA 200 at Daytona International Speedway. \u201cMichael was an up and comer at the same time I was and he was looking really good. In the end, Life took us different paths and all of us who knew him and the talent he had are sad to see him go, but glad he is no longer suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Annett drove for JR Motorsports from 2017 through 2021 and the team shared the news of his death on social media. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur thoughts and prayers are with the entire Annett family with the passing of our friend Michael Annett,\u201d the team shared on X. \u201cMichael was a key member of JRM from 2017 until he retired in 2021 and was an important part in turning us into the four-car organization we remain today.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the news spread many took to social media to remember Annett.<\/p>\n

\u201cRIP Michael Annett,\u201d NASCAR driver Jeremy Clements wrote on X. \u201cWas a pleasure to go door to door with you for so many years. You\u2019ll be missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo sad that Michael Annett has passed,\u201d longtime NASCAR reporter Claire B Lang wrote on X. \u201cHe was always so nice. Hard to believe he is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am just absolutely gutted to hear that we\u2019ve lost Michael Annett!\u201d Brad Doty posted on X. \u201cThe more I think about it the harder it gets! Thoughts and prayers are with his entire family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNASCAR is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former NASCAR driver Michael Annett,\u201d the organization said in a statement on its site. <\/a>\u201cMichael was a respected competitor whose determination, professionalism, and positive spirt were felt by everyone in the garage. Throughout his career, he represented our sport with integrity and the passion of a true racer. NASCAR extends its condolences to Michael\u2019s family and many friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

A native of Des Moines, Iowa, was behind the wheel for 106 NASCAR Cup Series races, but never managed to finish in the top 10. While his results at that level were not eye-popping, Yahoo Sports noted he drove for a pair of \u201cunderfunded teams\u201d in Tommy Baldwin Racing and HScott Racing. <\/p>\n

Annett had more success on the Xfinity Series where he drove in 321 races with 95 top-10 finishes. His lone win came in the 2019 NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona International Speedway. <\/p>\n

He also drove in nine NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races with two top-10 finishes.<\/p>\n

His agency, RSMG, also released a statement announcing his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are sad to have lost a family member,\u201d the post on X read. \u201cMichael Annett will always be in our hearts. Our thoughts are with the Annett family at this time. Rest in peace MA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Annett stepped away from racing following the 2021 campaign after a stress fracture in his leg caused him to miss parts of that season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski was among those to react to the stunning news of former driver Michael…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-330166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nascar","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}