Truex hits the Martinsville wall hard, takes Kahne with him

The knock on Martinsville is that cars don't get going as fast as they do at other, larger tracks; the flat banking and tight turns mean that most teams average around 80 mph. But that's an average; speeds can top 120 in the straightaways, and when you come to a sudden stop, that can lead to something like we saw Sunday with Martin Truex Jr.:

Truex's throttle stuck and sent him into the wall so hard that Martinsville crews needed to repair the SAFER barriers that ring the track. Truex leaped out of his car almost before it stopped moving to check on Kahne; both drivers were as good as could be after one of the hardest wrecks you'll ever see at Martinsville.

NASCAR cars do have a kill switch to deal with a stuck throttle; that kind of malfunction has cost more than one driver his life in accidents. But Truex simply didn't have time to engage it before hitting the wall. Fortunately, Kahne's car and the SAFER barriers helped blunt the impact. And while the race was red-flagged for about 25 minutes, there appears to be no long-term damage to either Truex, Kahne or the wall. The cars are toast, of course, but they'll be replaced easily enough.

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