Charles Plank, a tire carrier for the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, was uninjured after being hit by his own driver's spinning truck during the first round of pit stops during Saturday's Love's RV Stop 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. Defending Truck Series champion Zane Smith spun entering his pit stall, hitting Plank square with his right rear fender and sending Plank up into the air and onto the truck's decklid.
Despite a fairly blunt impact to the point that it actually caused damage to Smith's truck, Plank was not only uninjured but proceeded to complete the pit stop. Speaking to FS1, Plank explained that he tried to jump over and clear Smith's truck before it hit him, but was unsuccessful in doing so.
Zane Smith sends a crew member flying during a spin on pit road. He jumps right back up and walks it off.
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) September 30, 2023
These guys are just built different. Wow. pic.twitter.com/ysIiv8bZAj
"It looks like I almost cleared it jumping over. I'm glad I made it on the decklid instead of getting underneath it," Plank said. "We're ready for the next stop."
Oddly enough, Plank ended up faring better than his own truck did: Shortly after his pit road incident, Smith's truck began to have clutch issues that forced him behind the wall for lengthy repairs. Smith finished many laps down in 32nd, putting him well below the playoff cut line and in danger of elimination entering the final race of the Round of 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Plank also fared much better than several drivers in the Truck Series field, as two drivers -- Stewart Friesen and Greg Van Alst -- were sent to a local hospital following separate accidents. Smith's teammate Brett Moffitt, driving a second Front Row Motorsports truck in a one-off appearance, would win the race after a last-lap pass on Christian Eckes.
