UPDATE: Jason Kitzmiller tells TobyChristie.com that he did not miss a shift on the restart, to trigger the eight-car accident mid-race in the ARCA Menards Series event at Talladega, but rather that the car was stuck in second gear.
“Just for the record I did not miss a shift. Car was stuck in second gear and would not shift. Had to take the drive shaft off to get the car in hauler because the transmission was still locked up.”
At least eight cars sustained some kind of damage in a multi-car accident in the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway, after a missed shift on the restart stacked the field behind Jason Kitzmiller.
The multi-car accident happened directly after the first caution of the event, which was displayed for a single-car accident with Daytona 200 winner Greg Van Alst, ending his afternoon, and his shot at retaining the ARCA Menards Series points lead.
Trouble on the restart!
Multiple drivers involved in a crash to bring out the second caution of the #GeneralTire200 @FS1 | @TALLADEGA pic.twitter.com/6MtUUb57z2
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) April 22, 2023
When restarting, Kitzmiller, who led several laps at Daytona in February, appeared to miss a shift, stacking up the entire field behind him, and causing a major pileup behind him, collecting several drivers running at the rear of the field.
At the end of the accident, Hunter Deshautelle, driving for Brother-In-Law Motorsports, was looking to veer to the outside of the spinning Kitzmiller, but when the No. 97 started to slide up the track, the driver making his second ARCA start slammed on the break, and spun hard into Kitzmiller.
Jon Garrett, Logan Misuraca, Brad Smith, Kevin Hinkle, Tim Richmond, Mandy Chick, and Hunter Deshautelle were also involved in the accident, sustaining several different levels of damage to various entries.
Of the drivers involved in the crash, only Brad Smith and Mandy Chick were able to continue in the event, whereas Richmond, Misuraca, Hinkle, Deshautelle, and Kitzmiller were forced to go to the garage.
All of the drivers involved in the crash were able to either drive back to pit road, or climb from their cars without assistance.
