Mark Martin was involved in a frightening crash Sunday that spilled over onto pit road at Michigan International Speedway.
Martin, the pole-sitter for the Sprint Cup Series' Pure Michigan 400, was leading the race when Bobby Labonte and Juan Pablo Montoya appeared to get together in front of him, causing Labonte to spin.
When Labonte spun, Kasey Kahne got into the back of Martin’s car, causing both cars to spin.
Martin’s car spun across the front stretch grass and onto pit road, where it slammed into an opening in the pit wall.
Martin’s spinning car nearly hit bystanders, including a cameraman and a handful of crewmen. His car slammed into the pit wall on the driver’s side just behind the door and caught on fire.
Martin was not injured in the crash.
Afterward, he was typically gracious after climbing from his demolished car. He even thanked safety workers before being transported to the infield care center.
Asked what happened, Martin laughed and said, “Heck, I don’t know.
“The 47 (Labonte) got turned around and we got jammed up and the 5 (Kahne) got into the back of me.”
Martin, who had led the whole race except for the first round of green-flag pit stops, praised his team for giving him a fast car.
“Michael Waltrip gave me a chance to drive an awesome race car. This is so cool,” he said. I’m disappointed we got torn up, but man, what a hot rod. Driving stuff like that is what it’s all about.
“I’m glad I’m OK, and I’m glad I got to drive that thing. It was awesome."
Martin said he was trying desperately to save his car during the spin, especially when he was headed toward the pit wall.
“I was spending all my time trying to save the car,” he said. “I was working with it the whole time. I knew I had my hands full. It's hard to see sometimes behind me and around the side and everywhere because it was turning every which way, but we were trying.
“It's hard to keep up with exactly what's going to be happening there. I was hoping I was going to miss the pit wall completely and not tear the car up, but then I saw that the angle I was going, I was going to hit the end of pit wall. I never thought about getting on the other side of pit wall. That would have been hard at the angle I was coming, but that certainly would not have been good.”
Martin said crashing on pit road was a freak accident.
“I really feel that was a freak accident and I'm not sure that you can ever completely fix something like that,” he said. “That was a pretty freak angle. I'm not sure what you could do. It could have been really bad if I had got in that hole a little deeper where it caught me in the door instead of the crush area back there.”
Martin said the crash wasn’t as bad as it looked.
“I was concerned right before I hit it,” he said. “I thought this could be one of those sudden stops.”
Martin later took to Twitter to praise his team again and thank fans for their concern.
“Man that car reminded me of the 60 Winn Dixie Busch car,” Martin tweeted. “It was the fastest thing out there. I will be back to race another day.”
In another tweet, he wrote: “Thank you all for the concern. I'm all good and headed home to see my sweetheart.”
Martin, who is driving a partial schedule for Michael Waltrip Racing this year, has five career wins at Michigan, the most among active drivers.
Martin, the pole-sitter for the Sprint Cup Series' Pure Michigan 400, was leading the race when Bobby Labonte and Juan Pablo Montoya appeared to get together in front of him, causing Labonte to spin.
When Labonte spun, Kasey Kahne got into the back of Martin’s car, causing both cars to spin.
Martin’s car spun across the front stretch grass and onto pit road, where it slammed into an opening in the pit wall.
Martin’s spinning car nearly hit bystanders, including a cameraman and a handful of crewmen. His car slammed into the pit wall on the driver’s side just behind the door and caught on fire.
Martin was not injured in the crash.
Afterward, he was typically gracious after climbing from his demolished car. He even thanked safety workers before being transported to the infield care center.
Asked what happened, Martin laughed and said, “Heck, I don’t know.
“The 47 (Labonte) got turned around and we got jammed up and the 5 (Kahne) got into the back of me.”
Martin, who had led the whole race except for the first round of green-flag pit stops, praised his team for giving him a fast car.
“Michael Waltrip gave me a chance to drive an awesome race car. This is so cool,” he said. I’m disappointed we got torn up, but man, what a hot rod. Driving stuff like that is what it’s all about.
“I’m glad I’m OK, and I’m glad I got to drive that thing. It was awesome."
Martin said he was trying desperately to save his car during the spin, especially when he was headed toward the pit wall.
“I was spending all my time trying to save the car,” he said. “I was working with it the whole time. I knew I had my hands full. It's hard to see sometimes behind me and around the side and everywhere because it was turning every which way, but we were trying.
“It's hard to keep up with exactly what's going to be happening there. I was hoping I was going to miss the pit wall completely and not tear the car up, but then I saw that the angle I was going, I was going to hit the end of pit wall. I never thought about getting on the other side of pit wall. That would have been hard at the angle I was coming, but that certainly would not have been good.”
Martin said crashing on pit road was a freak accident.
“I really feel that was a freak accident and I'm not sure that you can ever completely fix something like that,” he said. “That was a pretty freak angle. I'm not sure what you could do. It could have been really bad if I had got in that hole a little deeper where it caught me in the door instead of the crush area back there.”
Martin said the crash wasn’t as bad as it looked.
“I was concerned right before I hit it,” he said. “I thought this could be one of those sudden stops.”
Martin later took to Twitter to praise his team again and thank fans for their concern.
“Man that car reminded me of the 60 Winn Dixie Busch car,” Martin tweeted. “It was the fastest thing out there. I will be back to race another day.”
In another tweet, he wrote: “Thank you all for the concern. I'm all good and headed home to see my sweetheart.”
Martin, who is driving a partial schedule for Michael Waltrip Racing this year, has five career wins at Michigan, the most among active drivers.