Blaine Perkins Hospitalized After Terrifying NASCAR Crash

By Ashley Turner

NASCAR driver Blaine Perkins' car flipped six times during a terrifying accident at the Ag-Pro 300 Xfinity Series race on Saturday in Talladega. After getting clipped by Dexter Stacey's sliding car, Perkins went careening into the backstretch wall, then his vehicle overturned when Jade Buford's car hit it. In the resulting wreck on lap 49, which became a multi-car collision, parts of Perkins' car were flying when it turned upside down. While viewers watched the race live, it was unclear why Perkins' car had been severely damaged. The cameras stayed on Stacey's car as it collided with the infield wall and briefly showed Perkins' mangled car, but then switched to a commercial without any explanation as to what had happened. The audience had to wait through an ad break to see Perkins leave his vehicle before Fox showed what happened, according to Yahoo Sports. Perkins' car also lost a wheel during the crash, which Kaz Grala hit as he slowed down.

After the red flag was raised, the race was halted for nearly 12 minutes. In the race, Perkins' No. 02 car collided with fellow competitor Dexter Stacey, resulting in Perkins being lifted in the air. Perkins was also turned sideways by a vehicle driven by Jade Buford, which caused several flips that took him out of the race. Additionally, Stacey and Buford were also eliminated from finishing the race, as the three ended with results of 34th, 35th, and 36th, respectively. Despite being unable to finish the race, Perkins managed to walk away on his own. Perkins was taken to a hospital after the accident, according to NASCAR. His family said he was "alert and in good spirits" Sunday afternoon.

After the wreck took place at the end of the second stage of the 300-mile race, another extremely violent crash took place with a handful of laps to go in the final leg.  Daniel Hemric's car flipping upside down caused the second red flag of the race. After Hemric tried throwing a block to keep the lead, his vehicle crashed to the ground. He spun off Sheldon Creed's bumper and caused a massive crash. After getting out of his car, Hemric was checked and released from the infield care center, Yahoo Sports reported. It took NASCAR safety team members to flip Hemric's car over before he could exit it safely. Jeb Burton won the race as another crash occurred right before the finish line. With one career top-10 finish, Perkins, 23, first competed in the Xfinity series, NASCAR's second-tier circuit, in 2021

0comments
Start the Conversation

of