Matt Mills was finally released from a local area hospital on Monday following a hard crash in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Mills, who was initially checked and released from the infield care center, was later taken to a local hospital on Saturday evening due to complications stemming from smoke inhalation.
Mills was held overnight at the hospital on Saturday, and Sunday as the medical team continued to observe his oxygen levels following the vicious crash, which led to his No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado bursting into flames, causing the smoke to flood the cockpit of his vehicle.
Upon his release from the hospital, Mills, 27, issued a video update to his profile on X, where he thanked his fans for continuing to support him and helping him through one of the toughest moments of his racing career.
Glad to be heading home. Appreciate everyone that reached out over the last couple of days. ? pic.twitter.com/lN7Ph8y2fy
— Matt Mills (@mattmillsracing) October 28, 2024
“Hey everybody. Glad to be out of the hospital. Still a little raspy, as you can hear. But just all the overwhelming support, and text messages that I’ve got just mean so much to me,” Mills explained. “I definitely didn’t like being in the hospital for as long as I was or being in that situation. Having you guys there to support me and help me get through that, just I can’t thank you all enough.”
Mills confirmed that he will return to the racetrack this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, where he will again compete in the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet. Mills hopes he can push past last week’s on-track incident and hospital stay and snag a decent finish to build momentum for another full-time campaign in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2025.
“I can’t wait to be back at the racetrack, Martinsville this weekend, and continuing to do what I love,” Mills explained. “Scary situation that I’ve had, but it’s part of the sport. Thanks to the NASCAR medical team, and everyone at the hospital, and just everyone at Niece Motorsports and J.F. Electric for continuing to support me and get through this tough deal. It means a lot. I’m more motivated than ever to keep doing my job. And we’ve got two more races to try and get a good finish and get some momentum for that 2025 year. So, just ready to get home, get cleaned up, and just continue the recovery process and see y’all in Martinsville.”
Mills crashed on Lap 76 of Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway when Conner Jones, the driver of the No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 punted him. Mills’ No. 42 machine veered right into the outside wall, where he impacted the wall very severely with the right side of his truck.
Following the incident, NASCAR parked Jones on pit road for two laps for rough driving.
After the race was over, Jones issued an apology statement to Mills on his profile on X.
— Conner Jones (@connerjones88) October 26, 2024
In the statement, Jones said that while he hadn’t had the opportunity to apologize to Mills in person, that he plans to do so.
Mills, a native of Lynchburg, Virginia is in the midst of his first-ever full-time season in any of the three NASCAR National Series divisions. In 21 starts this season, Mills has one top-five finish and two top-10s, and he sits 23rd in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship standings.
On September 24, Niece Motorsports announced Mills would return as the driver of the organization’s No. 42 Chevrolet Silverado for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
