Is NASCAR to blame for Mark Martin’s scary crash at Michigan?

Safety crews tend to the #55 Aaron?s Dream Machine Toyota driven by Mark Martin after he was involved in an on track incidentduring the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 19, 2012 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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Safety crews tend to the #55 Aaron?s Dream Machine Toyota driven by Mark Martin after he was involved in an on track incidentduring the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 19, 2012 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Mark Martin seemed well on his way to victory Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.  After leading from the pole, it seemed Martin’s pole speed would continue has he took control of the race.

Martin seemed to be on cruise control as he stretched out his lead to nearly two seconds by lap 21. He would give up the lead on lap37 during a round of green flag pit stops, but regained the point by lap 47 and was again stretching out his lead over teammate Martin Truex Jr. to nearly two seconds again.

On lap 64 however, Martin’s race came to a sudden crashing end. Exiting turn four, as he was getting caught by Kasey Kahne, two cars spun just in front of him. Martin and Kahne were sent spinning with Martin sliding through the infield grass towards the pit wall. His Toyota tapped the pit wall then spun around and slid driver’s side first into the end of a concrete opening. The car came to an abrupt stop after the end of the wall speared the car just behind the driver seat.  Martin was able to climb from the car uninjured and was even able to smile soon after. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.