Kevin Harvick has strong reaction to Shane van Gisbergen tire changer getting hit by tire at Pocono

Injuries in NASCAR can certainly occur. And it’s often a weird bit of contact you don’t see coming. Just ask Shane van Gisbergen’s pit crew member, JP Kealey.

Kealey suffered two broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung when AJ Allmendinger‘s car hit a tire his crew was carrying on a pit stop, sending the tire flying into Kealey’s chest. Kealey remained in the hospital earlier this week.

“Wild. It was ugly,” Kevin Harvick said on his podcast this week. “We had to watch it a couple times while we were sitting there, but that thing just blasted him right in the head. Wow.”

The scary collision didn’t prevent Kealey from finishing the pit stop for Shane van Gisbergen, a remarkable feat of athleticism and toughness. It could, however, sideline him for a future race. That remains to be determined.

But in the wake of the incident, Harvick pointed to NASCAR’s safety measures as doing their job. That’s no small deal.

“This is why NASCAR cracks down on the types of helmets that you have, the firesuits, the fireproof underwear that you wear, the mandate on gloves and shoes and all the things that NASCAR mandates,” Harvick said. “It’s not for every pit stop. It’s literally for these moments. And that’s what I tell a lot of the young drivers.

“You’re not prepping for everyday use. You’re prepping for the one moment when you need it. And that’s why you don’t ever get in the car, you always have a routine of how you put your belts on, how tight you wear them, how you sit in the seat, being picky with your seat. Same with the pit crew guys. You put that stuff on for a reason, and these are the moments so you don’t kill yourself when a tire is hitting you in the face coming at you full speed.”

Shane van Gisbergen and his crew will be thrilled to get Kealey back on the job whenever he’s recovered. It’s remarkable that there wasn’t more damage done.

Those tires weigh around 50 pounds. Getting smacked in the chest with a 50-pound tire? Not fun.

“This is why NASCAR has done just an absolutely wonderful job since 2001 in just every year evaluate, evaluate — what do we need to do better?” Harvick said. “There are some things that you just have to adapt and adjust, adapt and adjust. And NASCAR has done just an unbelievable job on the safety side since 2001. And continue to every year.”