NASCAR: John Wes Townley out of tomorrow's Truck race after ARCA crash - MotorSportsTalk

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver John Wes Townley will not compete in tomorrow’s Pocono Mountains 150 after crashing in ARCA qualifying earlier today at Pocono Raceway.

Townley was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation after his incident in Turn 2, but was later released. However, his official Twitter account confirmed that he would be held out of competition for the next week:

John was released from hospital in good health. As precaution, he'll be held out of competition for a week. JW thanks all for your prayers

— John Wes Townley (@JWTownley) August 1, 2014

A NASCAR.com report says that Townley will be evaluated by a neurologist this week in hopes that he’ll be cleared to race in next weekend’s ARCA event at Berlin Raceway and the Truck Series’ next event in two weeks’ time at Michigan International Speedway.

Prior to running in ARCA qualifying, Townley had posted the seventh-fastest lap in today’s first Camping World Truck Series practice session.

Because of his crash, Townley’s No. 05 Athenian Motorsports team did not take part in the second Truck practice and NASCAR.com adds that they haven’t decided if they’ll field a truck for tomorrow’s race.

Through 10 races this season, Townley is 10th in Camping World Truck Series points with two Top-5 and three Top-10 finishes.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

NASCAR: John Wes Townley out of tomorrow’s Truck race after ARCA crash

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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