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New Cody Ware cockpit camera footage shows absolutely brutal impact at Chicago

Stephen Samraby: Steve Samra07/12/25SamraSource
Cody Ware
Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cody Ware suffered a harrowing hit during last weekend’s Chicago Street Race. He went flying into the tire barrier in Turn 6 during the late stages of the race, immediately radioing to his team that he needed help.

Luckily, Ware was able to exit the car, appearing no worse for wear, but the highlights of his accident went viral for the sheer ferocity of the hit. During practice on Saturday in Sonoma, TNT Sports shared the onboard on the wheelman’s cockpit during the wreck, and it’s as gnarly as you would expect.

“TNT just showed a replay of Cody Ware’s Chicago crash from the onboard camera, looking at Cody inside the cockpit,” Steve Taranto of CBS Sports wrote, accompanying the video. “Look at how the steering wheel and some of the side padding moved forward upon impact.”

As you can see, that’s about as brutal as a hit can get in NASCAR. According to Mike Forde, NASCAR’s managing director, racing communications, it was the “biggest frontal hit we’ve seen in the Next Gen era.”

“That was a big, big hit,” Forde said, via Hauler Talk. “By the time we saw that 51 in the tire barriers, we did not see the hit. If we did see that hit, that caution would have been immediately thrown, there’s no question about that. But all we saw at that moment in time was the car in the barrier.”

While there was a ton of debate as to whether or not NASCAR should’ve thrown the caution flag earlier, the real important development is that Ware was alright. He provided an update on his status ahead of Sonoma, and it’s evident he’s excited to be behind the wheel once again in California.

“Thank you to everyone who has reached out the last couple days and checked on me,” Ware wrote on Instagram. “Praise the Lord for keeping me safe during that wreck, blowing a rotor at Chicago was not a fun experience.

“Huge thanks to my team and all the mechanics working on these cars to keep me safe, and all of the safety equipment that I was wearing. We had a fast @arbys cheesesteak Ford all day!!! Ready to take what we learned and hit it at Sonoma.”

Cody Ware is never going to be a threat to win in the Cup Series like some drivers, but he was headed towards an awesome result for his team in Chicago. It didn’t come to fruition, but perhaps he’ll be able to hit the ground running in Sonoma and notch a better finish than many would expect after last weekend’s debacle.