A massive pileup occurred on pit road at World Wide Technology Raceway. Fortunately, three crew members from Joe Gibbs Racing avoided serious injuries.
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The bizarre incident occurred after Carson Kvapil won the opening stage of Saturday night's O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race. He led the field down pit road so that all of the teams could get fresh tires and fuel. But very few cars left pit road.
The cameras suddenly showed a massive pileup occur as several cars spun and many more sustained serious damage. This created a parking lot on pit road and brought out the red flag for an extended cleanup period.
The cameras also showed that three members of the No. 19 pit crew were directly in the danger zone, but they avoided serious injuries due to how the crash unfolded.
Scary scene on pit road with multiple cars involved in a big crash. pic.twitter.com/LRfyydLNAk
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) September 13, 2026
Jackman Matt Wilps, tire carrier Brad Donaghy, and rear tire changer Bryan Backus went to work on the right side of the No. 19 Toyota, but they did not see the disaster unfolding until the last possible second.
Rajah Caruth's No. 88 came sliding in first, and it slammed into the tire in Donaghy's left arm. This launched the tire and knocked the carrier off balance. Nick Sanchez's car then crashed into the back of the No. 19 and lifted it into the air.
The side of Sanchez's No. 87 hit Wilps and Backus but only with seemingly glancing blows. The angle of the collision actually created a pocket that protected the three crew members from other spinning cars.
The number of times we've said "...and they finished the stop" is unfathomable. Beasts - all of them that work on pit road. pic.twitter.com/26Opqt5cLA
— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) September 13, 2026
One of the crew members limped away from the chaos, but CW Sports reported that the entire No. 19 crew gave the thumbs-up to show that they had avoided serious injuries.
The broadcast team examined multiple angles of the crash and listened to radio chatter from drivers throughout the field. They were not able to fully determine the exact reason for the massive crash on pit road.
It appeared that it started with William Sawalich slowing dramatically before attempting to pull into his pit stall. It then appeared that Jeremy Clements hit Anthony Alfredo, who hit Sanchez, who hit Caruth. The broadcast didn't have a definitive angle showing every hit.
The drivers who could not continue in the race also expressed confusion after visiting the infield care center. They knew that some cars had to check up for some reason, but they didn't know what truly led to the crash.
"I'm not sure what happened," Harrison Burton said after exiting the race. "The 51 (Jeremy Clements) was right in front of me, and I was just running my lights, and he ran into the guy in front of him, who ran into the guy in front of him and it looks like I got the worst of it.
"We knocked the radiator out of mine, just a horrible way to end the day. Just cruising down pit road - we were going to make a big change. We were really tight. We had a good qualifying effort and thought we would fire off better but too tight for our Dead On Tools Supra, and fell off the wagon. You get behind people and track position and that is what happens."
