On Lap 194 of the 300-lap NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the caution flew for an engine failure back in the pack.
Mason Maggio was limping his car around the apron in the No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet, white smoke billowing from underneath. He quickly turned behind the pit wall and came to a stop in the garage. Just as he did that, flames erupted from underneath the car and began to engulf the backside of that Chevrolet.
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Maggio was out of the car fast, with a crew member from JR Motorsports (the well-known Mark ‘Hollywood’ Armstrong), and another from Peterson Racing helping him as he climbed from the car.
Maggio was okay, giving the cameras a thumbs up as the safety crew used multiple fire extinguishes to put out the flames. They then dumped a lot of speedy dry to absorb all the fluid that leaked from the No. 91 machine.
“Yeah, I’m all good,” Maggio told The CW. “I knew there was going to be a lot of sparks under the lights here at Bristol, I just didn’t expect my car to ignite it. Just a shame. We were doing okay. We were hoping for a better day, but it was weird. I just saw the oil pressure starting to drop out of nowhere on that last restart and lo and behold I was in smoke. We just lost the motor at that point. I didn’t expect it to go up in flames like that. For all the family – mom and everyone at home, I’m good. Definitely a bummer. Wish we had a much better day.”
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Maggio was running 35th before the dramatic engine failure, which was his 25th career start in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series. The race was briefly red-flagged for cleanup.
Mason Maggio fire, No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet
Mason Maggio fire, No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet
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