In 2012, during the AAA Texas 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, a rather unexpected and dramatic incident unfolded. Kevin Harvick, the NASCAR legend, found himself in a peculiar situation just before the race began. As he approached his car during driver intros, he was met with an alarming sight: his car was missing!
🪂 Left side damage … from a parachuter. @KevinHarvick remembers an odd moment at Texas Motor Speedway.@KaitlynVincie | @MambaSmith34 |#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/aVIEXCnxba
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) April 10, 2024
Kevin recently shared the incident on his own podcast “HarvickHappyHour”. His co-host touched on the topic of the incident back in 2012 and Kevin said, “Well, I remember going to driver intros and then I get to my car and there’s no car. And I’m like, ‘Where’s my car?!'” Harvick explained to co-hosts Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith. “Well that guy’s sandbag on the bottom of his flag just completely demolished the left side of my car so they had to go weld the door back on my car before the race.”
“Well the door was broken; foam was hanging out,” Harvick recalled to the stunned co-hosts. “The door was actually detached. Those doors had a seam right in the middle of them and at the top and it was actually just laid open. Hit it pretty good.”
But what had happened?
The strange incident at Texas Motor ASpeedway involving Kevin Harvick
Well, it turns out that a parachutist, descending from the sky, had an unfortunate encounter with Harvick’s car. The parachutist’s sandbag, attached to the bottom of his flag, completely demolished the left side of Kevin Harvick’s car.
The damage was severe—so much so that the crew had to weld the door back onto the car. The repair process took anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes, and the race had to be delayed to ensure Harvick’s car was race-ready.
Initially, it was thought that the car had only sustained minor damage to the driver’s side. However, upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the situation was worse than anticipated. The door was broken, foam was hanging out, and the door itself was detached. The impact had been significant.
Harvick’s No. 29 car, despite the unexpected mishap, went on to finish ninth at Texas Motor Speedway, marking his best finish in the previous nine races. And the story didn’t end there—following his ninth-place finish, Harvick secured an impressive victory in Phoenix, finishing first for the first time that season.
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