During a wreck that started when #48-Jimmie Johnson tapped #2-Kurt Busch on Lap 165 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, smoke clouded up the straightaway before turn 2. Unable to see through the smoke, teammate #43-A.J. Allmendinger hit the back of #19-Elliott Sadler, sending him on a wild ride that ended with a hit so hard the engine of his car was torn apart and thrown towards the racetrack. “It knocked the breath out of me pretty good, but it’s definitely the hardest hit I’ve ever had in a race car,” Sadler said. “These new cars are built to be safer and if I can get out of that and walk [away from] that, I think it did its job.”
“Everyone was checking up in front of me and there was tons of smoke. I had nowhere to go,” Allmendinger said after the race. “I really hate it for Elliott and those guys. You hate to see anyone wreck, especially as hard of a hit as that. I’m really glad he’s OK.”(Sports Illustrated)(8-2-2010)
