Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s car bursts into flames during Roval 400
With just 13 laps to go in the NASCAR Playoffs race at the Roval, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. found himself in a dangerous situation. The No. 47 Harris-Teeter and Totino’s Pizza Rolls Chevy Camaro burst into flames. At first, just under the car, then it got worse.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made the mistake many have made before – he let the pizza rolls get a little burnt. In all seriousness, when the fire broke out, it was a tense situation. Stenhouse came to a stop and started to get himself freed from his seat belts and harnesses.
With all of the black smoke in the cockpit of the car, it had to have been difficult to get out of the car. Thankfully, he was able to make it out and get to safety on his own power.
Late in the race, you would think a caution brings out chaos. However, it didn’t change much. On the restart, AJ Allmendinger had to hold off Kyle Busch and William Byron. The Dinger went on to take the checkered flag by the end of the race.
The burnt-up Pizza Rolls car was quite a site on the track as the safety crew arrived to extinguish the flames. It was a bad break for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who struggled through most of the day.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. goes up in flames, Allmendinger wins
Once the issue with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car was cleared up, the race was back underway. Thankfully at the Roval, you don’t lose many laps under caution. They might take a long time, but the laps aren’t going to tick away when you have to hit pit road.
Unfortunately for Stenhouse, he wasn’t able to get back on track. This was a total fire and the car might even be taken to the R&D Center to see what went wrong. You never want cars catching on fire the way that this one did. It’s a danger to the driver and others.
While Ricky Stenhouse Jr. found himself going up in flames, AJ Allmendinger powered through. The Dinger was able to hold off six-time race winner William Byron and claim his first Cup Series win at the Roval. This trophy will look good next to his four from the Xfinity Series at the Roval.
Big day in the NASCAR Playoffs. A tough one for JTG Daugherty and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.