So, you want to be a tire changer for a NASCAR Cup Series race team, huh? You may want to watch this helmet cam footage from Justin Fiedler, the rear tire changer for the No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports team from Nashville Superspeedway, before you fully commit.
Late in the race, Erik Jones brought the car to pit road, and as Fiedler was changing the left rear tire, a shower of sparks from the lug nut and air gun caused a stream of fuel coming from the No. 43 car to ignite.
In an instant, a fireball erupted and the rear of the No. 43 car became engulfed in flames. Fiedler didn’t miss a beat and attempted to tell his driver to stay in the pit stall, as the tire had not been changed.
Here's the stop. The detents on the left side did not release (again) and I was already on the trigger. Caused a few sparks. Sparks+fuel=fire. We did come back and change the LR the next lap. I apologized to Jones on the plane for setting his race car on fire. pic.twitter.com/20ShlzYB38
— Justin Fiedler (@Justin_Fiedler) June 27, 2022
According to the tweet from Fiedler, Jones returned to pit road the next lap and got the left rear tire changed.
Jones would go on to score an 11th-place finish in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville following the wild fiery pit stop.
Fortunately, for the No. 43 team, the left rear wheel did come off on the next pit stop, unlike at Kansas Speedway, where the team spent more than 10 minutes on pit road cutting the right rear wheel off of the car.
