You hate to see it…
Erik Jones suffered a massive hit this weekend during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega when he got turned by Bubba Wallace and hit the outside wall hard, in a scene eerily reminiscent of Dale Earnhardt’s fatal crash in the Daytona 500.
Jones miraculously was able to walk away from the crash, and gave an interview with FOX after being released from the infield care center. But later, he ended up going back to the care center to be evaluated further, and was transported to a local hospital.
Luckily, his Legacy Motor Club team announced that Jones was released from the hospital and was traveling home last night. But the in-car video and audio from the wreck really shows you just how brutal of a hit it was.
Immediately after crashing into the wall, Jones keys up his mic and is struggling to get out his words:
“I don’t know if I’m alright.”
It clearly knocked the breath out of the driver, and his team immediately begins calling for an ambulance to meet Jones as he calls for help once again.
“I need help. My back…”
It’s tough to watch, but it’s also a testament to the fact that Jones was able to walk away from a wreck that probably wouldn’t have been survivable just two decades ago.
Unfortunately, it seems that he didn’t walk away totally unscathed.
Legacy Motor Club announced that Jones will miss this weekend’s race at Dover Motor Speedway after suffering a compression fracture in a lower vertebrae. Corey Heim will take his place behind the wheel of the #43 car.
Jones also released a video on Twitter, saying that he’ll be in Dover with the team this weekend and hopes to get back as soon as possible – but it definitely sounds like he’s going to end up having to miss more than just this weekend’s race.
You hate to see it, but as bad as it looked, I think we’re all just thankful that his injuries aren’t worse than they were, and hopefully Erik can get back behind the wheel sooner rather than later.
