NASCAR pit crew members narrowly escaped serious injury on Saturday night after a multi-car crash on pit road sent a spinning car hurtling toward them during the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Illinois, just outside St Louis.
The race, the second in The Chase, was stopped after cars came down pit road for fuel and tires and a massive crash sent vehicles spinning directly at crew members working on their cars.
The pit crew of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing car, driven by Brent Crews, found themselves in a particularly vulnerable position. One tire changer was hit by the spinning No. 88 car of Rajah Caruth, while others were almost crushed by Nick Sanchez's car.
Sanchez's No. 87 car spun dangerously toward the No. 19's rear tire changer, Bryan Backus, as he was changing the right rear tire. It came within inches of slamming into Backus and other crew members, but they ultimately emerged without serious injury and even returned to complete the pit stop once the chaos around them stopped.
"Oh my gosh, they're so lucky," said The CW Sports analyst and former driver Jamie McMurray, watching a replay. "That was so close to being bad. They have their backs turned, they don't even know that's happening."
How the crash unfolded
The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series is NASCAR's second tier of competition, sitting just below the Cup Series. Joe Gibbs Racing, which fields Crews' No. 19 car, is one of the sport's most prominent teams.
The pileup appeared to start when Crews' teammate, William Sawalich, slowed down for his pit stall but was hit from behind. That sent multiple cars spinning and blocked pit road, prompting officials to throw the red flag to stop the race and clean up the wreckage.
Three cars, driven by Sanchez, Harrison Burton and Jeremy Clements, ended up retiring from the race due to the damage they sustained.
Reaction from the pit road community
NASCAR pit reporter and presenter Kim Coon wrote on social media that it was the "scariest thing I've ever seen on pit road."
Respected pit crew member Bozi Tatarevic wrote: "This is one of the worst case scenarios as a crew member. I hope that nobody was out there when they stacked up."
He later broke down Backus' escape in detail, writing: "That was such a close call for Bryan Backus on the rear of the No. 19. So glad to see him get up. Good situational awareness from rear changer Bryan Backus, tire carrier Brad Donaghy, and jackman Matt Wilps to start moving towards the front of the car as soon as they sense that something is off."
Tatarevic added: "That's a 68 pound wheel and tire combination hitting Donaghy in the hip because the tires have liners here. That's going to be painful. Hopefully no lasting injury."
Drivers give their account
Rajah Caruth, whose No. 88 car struck one of the tire changers, suggested the incident started when Crews' No. 19 missed his entry point to his pit box, pitting at an angle and causing the cars behind him to slow.
"Well, I think the 19 missed his box and caused us all to stack, and I got slowed down," Caruth told Matt Weaver. "But I'm guessing everyone behind me didn't get stopped, because I was off the ground. It's super narrow and where the commitment line is, just the width of pit road is super narrow, so I'm not surprised that that happened."
"But that's why you do your homework during the week and know where your pit stall is, so you don't have that happen," Caruth added. "I was pretty frustrated. It would be one thing if I did something wrong but that was pretty out of my control, so I was frustrated to say the least. But it's racing. You understand, and sports, right? There are so many things out of your control. Just got to take the positives and push forward."
Another driver caught up in the incident, Jeb Burton, said: "By the time I looked up, they're all wrecking in front of me. I don't know what caused it, we just had a little bit of damage and came out of there unscathed. I don't know what happened."
