NASCAR driver hospitalized after terrifying fire during race
NASCAR driver hospitalized after terrifying fire during race
Sian Jones Sun, July 12, 2026 at 3:14 PM UTC
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Thomas Annunziata was hospitalized during the Lime Rock Truck Series race (Image: Getty)
NASCAR Truck Series driver Thomas Annunziata was taken to hospital after a terrifying incident saw his truck catch fire during the race.
Annunziata made an impressive start to just his second Truck Series appearance, qualifying fourth and showing strong pace throughout the weekend. Having finished 15th in the same race a year earlier, the 20-year-old entered the event with a genuine chance to challenge for victory.
He remained inside the top five for much of the Lime Rock Truck Series race before suffering significant damage to the right-side door during a restart incident. Despite the setback, Annunziata continued to battle and capitalised on late-race chaos to move into second place with just over 20 laps remaining.
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However, his impressive recovery came to a sudden end when smoke began pouring from his No. 07 Toyota before flames suddenly erupted underneath the vehicle. The 20-year-old quickly brought the truck to a stop on the grass and was able to climb out under his own power as safety crews rushed in to extinguish the fire.
After being assessed at the infield care center, Annunziata was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation, with Tricon confirming he was "awake and alert." His team later confirmed Annunziata has been cleared and released from hospital following further evaluation.
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Annunziata has since taken to social media to reassure fans that he is OK following the frightening incident. "I want to start by saying I'm OK. I really appreciate all the messages and concern after yesterday-just swallowed a little fire, that's all" he said on X.
"On the racing side, what a weekend. @TRICONGarage gave me a race-winning truck. We qualified up front, ran up front all day, and were lining up on the front row with a shot to win before our day came to an early end. Not bad for my second Truck Series start-we'll be back."
TRICON Garage No. 1 crew chief Jerame Donley said the team will carry out a full investigation to determine what caused the issue. He added that an initial inspection in the garage did not reveal a clear explanation for the problem. "We honestly don't know," Donley told NASCAR.com. "It's kind of chicken or the egg. There's a lot of stuff that's melted under there, a lot of stuff got hot. We'll get back to the shop and try to dissect it and figure out what happened.
"Obviously, there's been some alternator issues throughout the field. We had one at San Diego. I think the 34 (Front Row Motorsports team) had a couple issues today. The 9 (of race winner Grant Enfinger) had an issue. Just seems like maybe there's some issues going on that we don't know about yet, and we've got to get back to the shop and dissect it. So unfortunately, don't have the short, quick answer right now."
Annunziata arrived at the weekend in strong form after securing a dominant victory in Friday's ARCA Menards Series race at Lime Rock Park. The 21-year-old led 59 of the 68 laps and crossed the finish line nearly 10 seconds ahead of his closest rival.
Currently second in the ARCA Menards Series standings, Annunziata has limited experience in NASCAR's national series, with 18 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series starts and only two Truck Series appearances.
Source: “AOL Sports”
