A scary incident.
A NASCAR pit crew member was injured at Dover Motor Speedway this weekend after a pit box began rolling down a hill towards a NASCAR on FOX reporter.
The scary scene unfolded ahead of yesterday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, as teams were unloading their equipment and getting set up for the weekend. Apparently the pit box, which can weigh thousands of pounds when fully loaded, broke free after the brakes gave out while being pushed down the hill towards pit road.
Donovan Williams, a pit crew member for Spire Motorsports who serves as a tire carrier for Daniel Suarez in the #7 Cup Series car, managed to stop the cart as it barreled towards NASCAR on FOX pit reporter Amanda Busick.
Video of the scary incident shows Williams jumping in front of the pit box as it rolls down the hill, while others in its path jump out of the way and over the pit wall towards safety.
In the process of stopping the heavy pit box, Williams suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital via ambulance ahead of Cup Series practice.
Fortunately Williams was released from the hospital last night, but unfortunately for Suarez his tire carrier is going to be out for this weekend’s All-Star Race as he recovers.
Today, Busick recounted the experience and expressed her gratitude to Williams for protecting her from a situation that could have been much, much worse.
“That guy saved my life.”
She also went to visit Williams in the hospital before he later flew back to Charlotte.
Williams was also scheduled to work as tire carrier for JR Motorsports driver Rajah Caruth in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race today, but a backup was brought in to fill in for him on that team too.
Unfortunately having backup pit crew members can cause problems, as Daniel Suarez found out during qualifying.
Because it’s the All-Star Race, qualifying is a little different this week, with drivers required to make a pit stop during their session. And as Suarez was finishing up his qualifying run, his right front tire came off and sent his #7 car into the wall. That means that, despite being 3rd in qualifying at the time, Suarez was ultimately credited with a DNF and will start tomorrow’s All-Star Race near the back of the pack in 33rd position.
This marks the first year of hosting the annual exhibition race for Dover Motor Speedway, which no longer plays host to a regular-season points event. The race has been held at North Wilkesboro Speedway the past two years, but this year NASCAR and track owner Speedway Motorsports (which owns both Dover and North Wilkesboro) decided to swap the two and give the points race to the historic North Wilkesboro.
Denny Hamlin will start on the pole for the All-Star Race tomorrow, with the green flag scheduled to wave at 1:00 PM eastern – the first time since 1991 that the race will be run during the day as opposed to under the lights.
This may end up being a one year experiment, with serious chatter in the garage that NASCAR will be moving the All-Star Race back to its former (and rightful) home at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2027.
Hopefully the infield is a little more flat there when the teams go to move the pit boxes…
