Unfortunately, Tony Stewart’s Talladega NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series did not go well, ending in a bad wreck after just 17 laps of racing.
The 55-year-old NASCAR legend was running on the outside of a three-wide battle in 18th, nearing the end of Stage 1. In front of him, Stewart Friesen slowed with a cut tire and got turned around in the ensuing stack-up.
Friesen spun down the track, clipping Kris Wright and sending both up into the wall hard. Wright collided with Corey LaJoie on his way back up the track, as Friesen’s truck sent Stewart into the wall.
Stewart’s No. 25 Kaulig Racing RAM was completely destroyed, grinding to a halt on the backstretch. Stewart ran the season-opener at Daytona for Kaulig as well, where he was also taken out in an early wreck.
On the radio, the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion said after the crash: “Knocked the wind out of me. I’m good.”
A total of eight trucks were involved in the crash, and the red flag for cleanup lasted just over ten minutes.
Stewart was checked and released from the infield care center soon after without issue.
“I just saw Stewart Friesen in the middle and had an issue and I was — there were two trucks in front of us that got in the wall on the outside and I started down the hill to get past those guys and didn’t see the cars coming from the left,” recalled Stewart.
“But yeah, it’s just a racing deal. That’s part of it at restrictor plate racing. Stewart didn’t have anything — he couldn’t go anywhere. I mean, he had an issue, he said, he’s stuck in the middle. He can’t go anywhere. So he’s doing best he can. He can’t hang on to it. Just everybody around him, you know, got caught up in him.”
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