Austin Dillon had a tire failure on lap four of Wednesday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Blue-Emu 500 at Martinsville Speedway, which ripped a crush panel out of his No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
The 30-year old driver, whose wife is expected to go into labor any day to give birth to their first child, tried to soldier on for the entire 500 lap event.
However, around lap 415, Dillon couldn’t take any more. Extreme heat and more than likely carbon monoxide exposure caused Dillon to pull his No. 3 machine behind the wall.
Austin Dillon is out of the No. 3 after a broken crush panel exposed him to fumes and extreme heat at Martinsville. pic.twitter.com/tlwDlHyfZ0
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 11, 2020
In a scary sight, Dillon needed medical attention after being pulled from the car. This is the second race in a row that a driver had to have medical assistance, as Bubba Wallace suffered from what appeared to be heat exhaustion last Sunday at Atlanta.
Following the race, Dillon talked about the day, and explained that he is feeling much better after receiving two IVs after climbing from the car:
https://twitter.com/nascaronfox/status/1270933791570362368?s=21
