Akinori Ogata, making his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start of the season for G2G Racing, had a scary moment in Friday’s practice session at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
While running his 19th lap in Friday’s 50-minute practice session, Ogata was innocently heading into the third corner, when his No. 46 Toyota Tundra burst into flames, sending the 49-year-old driver hard into the outside wall.
Ogata rushed to get his vehicle stopped on the frontstretch just before the start-finish line so the AMR Safety Team could start trying to put out the fire, while also making sure the part-time driver was able to emerge from his truck.
A scary moment for Akinori Ogata at North Wilkesboro Speedway during Truck Series practice. He's okay. pic.twitter.com/CSvgUeMhWK
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 19, 2023
Ogata was able to climb from the truck under his own power, but that would mark the end of practice for the Japanese driver and G2G Racing. The organization, which is only fielding a single truck this weekend, is currently still assessing the damage.
The organization will provide further updates on if they’ll be able to qualify, as they become available, however, it appears that G2G Racing is likely to need a backup truck, if they have one.
The No. 46 ended the 50-minute practice session ranked 33rd of 40 trucks with a best lap of 21.347 seconds, about three-quarter seconds behind session leader Carson Hocevar.
