Mark Martin probably had the best car at Michigan but it turns out that the driver is lucky to be unhurt after a scary crash on Sunday. Martin was leading the race when he was involved in an accident that sent him spinning down pit road. At the end of the crash, Martin’s car was impaled by the pit road wall as it narrowly missed the driver’s door.
This shows how much attention is paid to safety these days. In the old days of racing, Martin probably would have been hurt in the accident. Someone on pit road would have probably been hit by the car and it could have ended up being much worse than just a ruined race car. A life or two could have been ruined on Sunday.
Martin has been part of the resurgence of Michael Waltrip Racing this year. He has been splitting time in the 55 with some other drivers and they have been in contention almost every week. This looked like the week the car was going to stop in victory lane. Martin dominated the early stretch of the race and he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
On the other hand, this was probably one of the more exciting races overall this year. It has been a very bland season so far but the last two races have shown a lot of drama. That is going to be necessary as the Chase is just a few weeks away. Martin will not be a championship contender, but he will live to race again. If this was 30 years ago, he might not have been so lucky.
Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.
