Scott Speed Gets Squished by David Gilliland In Phoenix Race
Scott Speed had an eventful race weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. He raced in the Craftsman Truck series race, qualifying in the 21st starting position and finishing the race in the 14th position.
Speed sat out the Nationwide race, but then jumped into his number 84 Red Bull Toyota for the Cup race. Scott qualified in the 38th starting position for the race.
Admittedly, Speed's car wasn't the best in the field and frankly he wanted to log laps and just stay out of the way of the Chase for the Championship contenders. Scott managed to do just that, even gaining five bonus points on lap 21 by staying out while others came to pit road.
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Scott was riding along, minding his own business, until lap 273 of the race. Suddenly, Juan Pablo Montoya snagged Casey Mears, who went spinning.
And then the wrecking was on. When the spinning cars stopped and the smoke cleared, David Gilliland's car was sitting high in the air, unnaturally high off the ground.
The reason Gilliland's car was so high up was that his car was literally sitting on top of Scott Speed's car. This unbelievable sight got even scarier when flames began shooting out the side of Gilliland's car.
Fortunately, Speed was able to quickly extricate himself from the car. Gilliland kept trying to fire up his car, apparently not realizing that Speed's car was directly beneath him.
When the rescue workers finally advised him to shut it off and get out of the car, Gilliland practically fell out of his door, not realizing how high up he truly was off the ground. The race had to be red flagged in order to separate the cars and clean up all the debris on the track.
Thankfully, both Gilliland and Speed were checked out at the infield care center and walked out together still talking about their wild ride. In their interviews, Gilliland marveled that he found Scott Speed's hood under his feet.
And Scott Speed said this wreck was practically "Days of Thunderish", referencing the wild racing that occurred in that popular NASCAR movie.
This is Gilliland's second race where he has had trouble. On his last foray on the track he ended up being parked for his retaliation and hard racing with Juan Pablo Montoya.
Unfortunately, this is Speed's first race that he did not finish. He ended the race in the 40th position, just ahead of Jeff Gordon, whose engine blew up half way through the race.
Even worse, the Red Bull team is now 36th in points and so will have to qualify their way in on time. With Scott's poor and scary finish, Michael Waltrip Racing now has claimed that coveted 35th spot.
To take a look at one of the most bizarre racing wrecks this season starring Speed and Gilliland, check out the following link:
Photo Credit: HARRY HOW / GETTY IMAGES
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