Things took a terrifying turn over the weekend as NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Chandler Smith was faced with a horrifying brake failure that left him with no choice but to crash his own vehicle in order to stop it during the race.
Source: NASCAR YouTube
During the Road America 180 in Wisconsin, Smith was driving down a straight stretch when out of nowhere, a piece of his own vehicle, at this time guessed to have been part of his brake rotor, separated from his car.
As this occurred, commentators quickly noticed Smith was dangerously accelerating and unable to slow down his car. This forced Smith, with no other choice thanks to his brake pedal basically becoming useless, to drive directly into the wall in order to stop the car.
In the video, you can see pieces of the brakes fly off right before Smith makes the decision to dump it.
You can watch the full clip below:
Chandler Smith lost his brakes and had to use the wall to slow the car going down the straight.
📺: NBC and @peacock pic.twitter.com/0awvYXmtGm
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 29, 2023
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Miraculously, he wasn’t injured at all in what could have been dangerous situation. After getting checked out by medical staff, Smith told reporters about the brake malfunction and what went on in his head.
“I was having some brake fade throughout the runs,” Smith said. “But I didn’t think that I was abusing them by any means that would make them fail on me. Going up the hill on the front stretch, I heard something snap in half. Then, I felt something come off of the car.”
Chandler Smith out of the race here at Road America after a brake failure. #nascar pic.twitter.com/xw3mDu4EZA
— Jared Haas (@RealJaredHaas) July 29, 2023
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“The whole front nose just dropped when that happened. I went to pump the brakes, there was nothing there.”
In the meantime, the race drew to a close with Sam Mayer marking his maiden win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, a first in his racing career.
For those who watched this live, what were your thoughts as you saw Smith’s vehicle lose control? Let us know in the comments below and across social media.