NASCAR fans were in for a bit of a scare at Charlotte Motor Speedway when a driver’s car burst into flames midrace. Footage of the incident has circulated online, as driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr could be seen escaping the vehicle.
While competing on the 96th lap of the race, Stenhouse Jr was forced to pull over on the side of the track as flames shot out from underneath his car. Luckily, he managed to climb out unscathed before emergency crews rushed in to put out the fire.
He went on to finish 34th overall, but had already qualified for the playoffs earlier this season after winning Daytona 500 back at the start of it.
A scary fire for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
He got out of the car. #NASCAR
???? : NBC pic.twitter.com/UCsJAdCplr
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 8, 2023
Non-playoff driver AJ Allmendinger beat William Byron in a 10-lap dash during NASCAR’s second playoff elimination race Sunday, securing a win at Bank of America Roval 400. Following several restarts against Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch, Allmendinger was able to come out ahead with just 10 laps left until checkers.
In spite of being within a car length with two laps remaining, Byron couldn’t catch up enough and finished 0.666 seconds behind Allmendinger who took home his third victory among 426 Cup Series starts – all on road courses.
Representing ninth place in standings with just two points separating him from Keselowski for that final spot when starting off, Tyler Reddick occupied pole position for 23XI Racing Toyota No 16 for second time this season and sixth of his career. For 25 laps he led every lap without incident or issue until other teams began pitting early so they could get themselves ready for those last 59-lap runs.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott then passed Bell for lead during stage two but caution flag came right after due to Bilicki and LaJoie incident which sent Wallace spinning into low 30s and 20 points behind position wise – he eventually finished 16th by end of race day.
