“Big One” strikes on last lap for NASCAR Trucks; Justin Lofton discharged from hospital (UPDATED, with VIDEO)

By Oct 19, 2013, 10:22 PM EDT
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UPDATED (10:22 p.m. ET): Justin Lofton’s PR team has confirmed via his Twitter account, @JLRacing, that Lofton has been discharged from a local hospital after sustaining a fractured left thumb in today’s last-lap melee at Talladega.

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UPDATED (8:28 p.m. ET): NASCAR has confirmed that 11 of the 12 drivers involved in today’s crash have been checked and released from Talladega’s infield care center. As seen in the most recent update, the 12th driver, Justin Lofton, has been transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Additionally, Dustin Long of MotorRacingNetwork.com and Bob Pockrass of The Sporting News are both reporting that track officials have stated that there are no structural damage to the walls after the crash.

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UPDATED (7:12 p.m. ET): Per reports from Talladega, NASCAR has announced that Justin Lofton, one of the drivers involved in this afternoon’s last-lap crash at Talladega Superspeedway, will be taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. Lofton drives the No. 6 Sharp-Gallaher Racing Chevrolet Silverado.

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The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ race this afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway was marked by several multi-truck accidents, but none as spectacular as the one that ensued on the final lap of the Fred’s 250.

As the field was coming to the checkered flag, Jeb Burton was clipped from behind by Miguel Paludo and sent into Kyle Busch on the outside. Busch then came down and took Burton into Paludo and Darrell Wallace, and the impact caused Paludo (pictured, No. 32) to flip onto the roof of his truck.

With those behind them proceeding to stack up, Busch continued to slide and went into the inside concrete wall near the start/finish line before coming to a stop. By the time it was all over, 12 trucks had been involved in the entire mess.

“I don’t know what happened,” Busch said to Fox Sports after he had gotten his wind back following the crash; he had climbed out of his wrecked Toyota and sat down against the outside concrete wall in the aftermath.

“Somebody just came up from underneath me and hit me, turned me left and then the wreck was on. When you see the checkered flag and you see things in front of you, you just keep your foot on it and I drove it all the way to start/finish.

“I guess I knocked the wall down there on pit road, so that wasn’t very fun…There were a couple of really good licks that I took, so there was no sense of sitting in a hot vehicle. You might as well get out and get some fresh air.”

Ahead of the chaos, Johnny Sauter went on to win the race over David Starr, Ross Chastain, Parker Kligerman and Dakoda Armstrong.

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
IndyCar
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”