A multi-car incident on pit road made for a scary moment in Saturday night’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
As the field entered pit lane following the end of Stage 1, Nicholas Sanchez made contact with Rajah Caruth. The contact sent both cars spinning, with Sanchez’s No. 97 careening with Brent Crews’ No. 19 car as his pit crew was in the middle of their stop.
The incident completely blocked pit road with multiple cars receiving major damage. Among those were Chase drivers Brandon Jones and Caruth.
Non-chase drivers Harrison Burton, Dean Thompson, Jeb Burton, Ryan Sieg, Patrick Starpoli, Jeremy Clements, Sanchez and Anthony Alfredo, making for a 10-car incident on the pit lane.
Thankfully, everyone on the No. 19 team was reportedly OK after the frightening incident.
Reactions to scary NASCAR pit road incident
In what was an unexpected, terrifying incident on the pit lane, many in the NASCAR community were stunned by the incident.
“Incredible development in O’Reilly race as pit road is BLOCKED in a big one during pit stops. Holy crap,” wrote motorsports reporter Jeff Gluck via X.
Jamie McMurray, retired NASCAR driver and current CW analyst, speculated that it appeared one of Crews’ pit crew members was injured as he looked to be limping following the impact of Sanchez’s No. 97.
However, The CW later reported that there were no injuries. Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic also noted there were no injuries but stressed that there could have been.
“Thankfully, all members on the No. 19 pit crew are OK, per CW. This could’ve been very bad,” he wrote via X.
FOX motorsports reporter Bob Pockrass, too, confirmed that there were no significant injuries in an X post.
“Glad everyone appears to be OK,” Pockrass wrote.
It is not unusual to see pit-road incidents in NASCAR. With a multitude of cars coming down pit road nose to tail in a confined space, it can sometimes be easy for a jam-up or a spin-out to occur.
However, rarely has NASCAR ever seen what they saw on Saturday night. Bianchi, who is a longtime NASCAR reporter, was stunned by what had unfolded.
“This is the damnedest thing. I don’t ever remember seeing a pile up like this on pit road,” he wrote.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase continues in Gateway
The pit road incident occurred during the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Nu Way 225 Powered by Bobcat and Sauced by Blues Hog at WWT Raceway, otherwise known as Gateway.
It is the second of nine Chase races for the series. Carson Kvapil, who entered the race third in the standings, won Stage 1 in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
Justin Allgaier, Kvapil’s teammate, entered as the points leader in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Allgaier entered Gateway with a seven-point lead over Sheldon Creed, who won last week’s race at Darlington in the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series can be watched exclusively on The CW all season long. It can also be listened to on the Motor Racing Network or the Performance Racing Network.
Pit Road Disaster Unfolds in NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race