With 22 laps to go in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, a big crash resulted in Dean Thompson getting drilled twice. Thompson got out of the truck under his own power, but sat on the track as medical personnel tended to him. After being put on a stretcher, Thompson was evaluated in the infield care center, and then taken away by ambulance to Baylor Scott & White Medical Center.
As the NASCAR community held their collective breath, thankfully, things appear to be alright. Thompson tweeted Saturday night that he’s “doing good” and will “have a beer” after getting out of the hospital and gets home.
Thompson tweeted, “Hey y’all, I actually deleted Twitter to do a detox for about a month but I’m back lol. Just to update y’all I’m doing good, just getting some scans done then I’m gonna go have a beer when I get home! Also thank you to everyone for all the love and support. Especially the infield care center nurses and staff. Truly blessed to be able to do what I do.”
Also thank you to everyone for all the love and support. Especially the infield care center nurses and staff. Truly blessed to be able to do what I do
— Dean Thompson (@deanthompsonr) April 2, 2023
Tricon Garage, Thompson’s team, tweeted that Thompson will undergo further evaluation when he gets back to Charlotte. He will need to be medically cleared by NASCAR before competing at Bristol next weekend.
The crash stemmed from Thompson being stranded in the middle of the track and got hit by Matt Mills. That hit sent Thompson into the path of Trey Hutchens, who had nowhere to go and hit Thompson.
Mills immediately gave his view of the accident, saying he checked up but could not see anything ahead of him through the grass and smoke.
Mills tweeted, “Just wanna say hope Dean is okay, came out of 4 checking up and just followed cars in front of me all I seen was grass and smoke and just sliding through it trying to slow down, I couldn’t see there was a car even sitting there. It may look different but that was my perspective. That was the hardest hit I’ve ever had and hurting but feel even worse for Young’s Motorsports. Appreciate everyone’s support and we’ll be back.”
That was the hardest hit I’ve ever had and hurting but feel even worse for @youngsmtrsports. Appreciate everyone’s support and we’ll be back.
— Matt Mills (@mattmillsracing) April 1, 2023
The crash looked bad, but Thompson was lucky to get hit where he did to avoid potentially more serious injuries. Mills hit him in the rear of the truck instead of the driver’s side and glided forward. Then when Thompson spun in front of Hutchens’ path, he was hit on the passenger side. I’m not saying that it was pleasant to get hit like that, but it was a better-case scenario than some other places on the truck.
