Even through the glass windows of the luxury suites at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the loud blast sounded like the explosion of an artillery shell.
In reality, what happened on Lap 232 of Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was the detonation on the right rear tire on Paul Menard’s No. 27 Chevrolet.
The force of the explosion blew the entire wheel assembly off the car and engulfed the crew in black smoke.
The trouble for Menard began with a Lap 194 restart, when the outside line stalled. Menard rammed series champion Jimmie Johnson and in turn was hit from behind, sustaining damage to the rear of his car.
“On that restart, everybody kind of checked up, and we got some right rear damage and had a flat tire,” Menard explained. “I guess a bunch of rubber got wrapped up underneath around the axle. Came in a couple of times trying to fix the damage and try to get the rubber off. We didn’t get it all, and I guess it just caught fire.
“I didn’t really know it until there was a little bit of a spark coming in the car and landed on the window net; thought that was kind of weird. About a lap later they said I was on fire; I lost my brakes, then the damn wheel blew right off.”
Menard was unhurt, and several of his crew members narrowly escaped injury from the flying wheel, but the car was done for the night.
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