LINCOLN, Ala. — A ball of white smoke suddenly turned orange in turn 2 after an engine failure caught fire on lap 65, ending Norm Benning‘s race on Friday (Oct. 17) evening.
“I’ve never been in an explosion like that,” Benning said after returning from an extended stay at the infield care center. “I’ve never got out of a race car so fast in my life. I had the net down and the belts loose before I got stopped and just got out of there as quick as I could.”
Benning’s No. 6 Chevrolet came to a stop on the Talladega backstretch.
“I was holding my breath, and I couldn’t hold my breath anymore and I took in some smoke,” Benning added. “My whole right side feels like it’s sunburned, but I’m fine.”
Crew chief Dan Killius spent some time looking over the car in the garage.
“That was one of the worst feelings I could have,” said Killius. “I was right there in Xfinity tech when Jordan Anderson had his wreck and fire a couple of years ago and honestly that was flashbacks to that.”
The Anderson fire from 2022, also at Talladega, resulted in Anderson suffering second-degree burns.
“I’m going to call him up,” Benning joked. “I’m going to say, ‘I tried to outdo you.'”
Benning also added that he will have to “go back in the morning” for additional treatments, but he still plans on racing at Martinsville next weekend.
At 73 years old, a scary incident like this isn’t slowing Benning down.
“I just love it. I love crawling in that window and can say I’m physically able to do it,” he said. “I hope somebody comes along and can help us replace this engine.”
An engine costs $75,000, according to Benning, who said this engine only had two races on it.
“I mean, I’ve got to replace the engine now for Daytona, and that’s my concern.”
Obviously, Benning will race a different truck at Martinsville next week. However, Benning did point to the charred truck, saying, “that’s going to Daytona.”
Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!