STORY/PHOTOS: Taylor Gray Walks Away From A Scary Crash At Martinsville

STORY/PHOTOS: Taylor Gray Walks Away From A Scary Crash At Martinsville

by October 5, 2019 0 comments

RIDGEWAY, Va. – Taylor Gray walked away after he flipped his Late Model end-over-end in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.

Gray’s car came to a rest on its roof halfway down the backstretch, hundreds of feet past where the incident started. Track safety officials rushed to his aid, turning his car onto its side to help him get out of the decimated vehicle.

Fans erupted in cheers when Gray, under his own power, crawled out of the car and onto his feet.

“The safety guys did a really good job of rolling me back over,” said Gray. “It’s their job to take it a little bit more serious but I think they thought it was a little more serious than it actually was. I was perfectly fine so that’s what all matters.”

Exiting Turn 2, Sammy Smith spun, leaving Gray nowhere to go but into him.

“I knew it was coming, I had a feeling for sure. But, uh, just clipped the 12 (Sammy Smith) car’s left front and momentum just took me and started rolling,” said Gray. 

According to him, it’s a “hopeless feeling” to be inside a flipping race car.

“You’re kind of just bracing for dear life. You can’t really do anything. I’ve always been taught to cross your hands and feet whenever something like that happens.”

Gray confirmed his roof became partly detached from his car while it barrel rolled.

He was in the middle of the pack at the time of the wreck, and felt he was in contention to win the last race of the Virginia Triple Crown.

“We we’re kind of just playing the race out, waiting for everybody to wreck,” said Gray. “But unfortunately we were one of the ones that wrecked. I guess we’ll just have to race another day and come back next year to get our clock.”

The red flag was displayed for 30 minutes and 31 seconds for cleanup.

Below are photos that Hunter Thomas captured of the accident.

No Comments so far

Jump into a conversation

No Comments Yet!

You can be the one to start a conversation.

<