Watch the video as John Hunter Nemechek catches fire after winning at Martinsville Speedway
On Saturday night, the NASCAR Xfinity Series unloaded in Martinsville Speedway. The race ended in flames.
Watch the NASCAR fire video below.
For 2023, NASCAR has introduced a wet weather package for ovals. That package includes windshield wipers, mud flaps and the option for grooved tires if rain falls on the speedway. The wipers and mud flaps must be installed for the duration of the weekend regardless of rain.
John Hunter Nemechek drove to the race win. He also collected an extra $100,000 with the Dash 4 Cash bonus.
Martinsville Race Results: April 15, 2023 (NASCAR Xfinity Series)
He celebrated by parking his car against the inside wall. The No. 20 pit crew stood on top of the wall and cheered him on.
Following a lengthy burnout, the rear of the car ignited. Initially, Nemechek continued with the celebration, ignoring the fire.
The race winner was then told to backup and the safety team was on the way.
Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski comment on the fire
“Now, he just set the whole thing on fire. I’d get out on that one. Big fire,” Joey Logano commented from the Fox Sports booth.
Brad Keselowski added, “I think that might be the mud flaps.”
Keselowski added, “It’s really cool looking. Maybe not the safest, but that’s ok.”
Logano returned, “I mean, the race track is on fire.”
“It looks like there’s a DeLoren over there. Yeah, he needs to get out, excessive celebration.”
Logano concluded, “The marks on the race track, on fire. That’s really cool.”
John Hunter Nemechek comments
As Nemechek came to a stop, both the AMR safety team as well as the Joe Gibbs Racing team were there with fire extinguishers to put out the flames.
“I forgot about that, I was just focused on winning the race,” Nemechek stated of the $100,000 bonus.
“I don’t know exactly what started it,” Nemechek stated from the media center in regards to the fire.
“The similar situation was we were both doing burnouts,” Nemechek referred to Zane Smith who recently suffered a similar issue.
The fire at Martinsville looked very similar to the fire at Circuit of the Americas. Zane Smith also caught fire during his burnout celebrations. That fire also took place as the wet weather package with mud flaps were installed.
NASCAR race winner catches fire during burnout at COTA (Video)
“I saw there was a fire in the mirrors. I didn’t know if it was the ground that was on fire from the rubber or it was the actual mud flaps, or what.”
“I got told to backup because there where fire extinguishers on the way. I wasn’t too nervous with it.”
Nemechek added, “But, definitely a proud moment to go out there and burn it down like we did.”
