The CW
A crash on pit lane during the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at World Wide Technology Speedway in Madison, Illinois.
Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at World Wide Technology Speedway almost turned ugly after a terrifying crash involving several drivers on pit lane.
The crash occurred following the completion of the opening stage of the race and seemed to begin when Joe Gibbs Racing driver William Sawalich attempted to slow down and entered his pit box.
However, not everyone behind Sawalich slowed at the same rate, causing a massive pileup that sent cars spinning in the direction of several crew members who had already entered pit lane to service their respective cars.
Scary scene on pit road with multiple cars involved in a big crash. pic.twitter.com/LRfyydLNAk
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) September 13, 2026
Multiple crew members for fellow Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brent Crews were struck by the spinning vehicle of Peterson Racing’s Nick Sanchez. Both crew members limped away and later confirmed to The CW’s pit road reporter that they were okay.
The incident wound up collecting nearly a dozen drivers, many of whom were competing in the second race of the series’ Chase for a championship.
Eventually, the series was forced to red flag the race in order to clear the gridlock of cars that had stacked up on the pit lane.
“This is one of the worst case scenarios as a crew member. I hope that nobody was out there when they stacked up,’ media and pit crew member Bozi Tatarevic said on X regarding the incident.
While everyone knows the dangers of auto racing, it’s not often that such incidents occur on the pit lane, where a strict speed limit is enforced each week. However, it goes to show the dangers that pit crew members face each week when they take to the track to service cars while others are driving around them.
Thankfully, this incident didn’t end nearly as badly as it could have.