Pit crews narrowly avoid serious injury, pit road completely blocked in scary NASCAR crash - RAW CHILI

At the end of Stage 1, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series field filed down pit road for standard pit stops, but things quickly went very wrong.

On the narrow pit road, there was a check-up that led to Rajah Caruth and Nick Sanchez spinning. It was an accordion effect as cars piled in, pushing each other into the wreck.

Caruth’s car clipped crew members of Brent Crews’ No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing, who also narrowly avoided being crushed by Sanchez’s out-of-control car. It was a truly frightening moment that could have resulted in severe injuries, but thankfully, everyone was okay. Motorsport.com contributor and professional motorsports mechanic Bozi Tatarevic identified the crew members as rear tire changer Bryan Backus, tire carrier Brad Donaghy, and jackman Matt Wilps.

Most of the field was trapped behind the accident scene, unable to move. Of course, NASCAR was forced to immediately red flag the race.

At least three Chase drivers needed repairs. The cars of Caruth, Sanchez, Crews, Brandon Jones, Dean Thompson, and Harrison Burton all suffered notable damage, and several other cars were damaged as well. The CW listed Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Ryan Sieg, Patrick Staropoli, and Anthony Alfredo as those involved as well.

The cars of Clements, Alfredo, H. Burton, and Sanchez either lost many laps or went to the garage due to the severity of their crash damage.

Drivers, teams, and even the broadcast booth were left stunned by the incident, which required a lengthy cleanup. Once the race moved back to yellow-flag conditions, NASCAR re-ordered the field so those who stopped for the crash weren’t punished in the running order.

“I’ve never seen pit road blocked like this,” said one team member over the radio as they waited for the race to resume. Here’s a closer look at the unusual melee:

After being released from the infield care center, Sanchez admitted that he was unsure what happened, even after seeing the replay. “It’s too fast, you can’t even process it. Unfortunate, but hopefully everyone is okay on pit road and nobody is injured. It’s a shame — ridiculous.”

He later told added: “I was tight up against the #88 [Caruth] and he abruptly stopped. I tried my best to stop. I think I had minimal contact, and next thing I know I was up in the air. Whoever was behind me, behind him, behind that person — just piled into there. I got it the worst out of all that. I just don’t know what happened. I don’t know who caused it.”

Talking to a media scrum that included Motorsport.com, H. Burton said: “It’s like I wrecked on I-77, I guess. I couldn’t tell what caused it. All I saw was, I guess it was a 51 [Clements] in front of me. I was right on his bumper, running my lights, and he just ran into the guy in front of him, and ran into the guy in front of him. I looked like I got the worst of it. I think I knocked the radiator out of line. This is a horrible, horrible way to end your day. Just cruising down pit road…”