Derrike Cope is a former Daytona 500 winner who was racing in the Xfinity Series race on Saturday at Watkins Glen in New York. During the race, Cope’s car mysteriously blew up.
The 57-year-old had slowed off the race pace at the famous road course. In fact, Cope skipped going through the Bus Stop chicane and went off the race course, appearing to try to nurse his car to safety.
That’s when suddenly Cope’s car experienced a massive explosion from underneath the hood, incinerating the front half of the car and enveloping the car in black smoke.
Engines malfunctioning and blowing up are common in NASCAR races, but it’s not usually taken to the more literal end of that phrase.
Cope was released from the NASCAR care center and the series is investigating the car to figure out what the heck happened.
We've impounded and will review to identify what exactly happened. Cope has been evaluated and released. #NASCAR https://t.co/wsJDQYoAoU
— David Higdon (@davidhigdon) August 6, 2016
Cope told NBC Sports afterwards that he had never seen anything like it in 35 years of racing. Truly bizarre.
