NASCAR impounding Cope auto after freakish explosion

Initially, neither NASCAR nor Cope knew what caused the explosion but the former made a decision to impound what’s left of the vehicle for investigation.

Cope was experiencing brake issues during the race and was coasting around the track.

Derrike Cope is a former Daytona 500 victor who was racing in the Xfinity Series race on Saturday at Watkins Glen in NY.

Cope’s tire failed, Sawyer said, because excess heat degraded a right front tire.

“In my 35 years of racing, I’ve never ever experienced anything like that”, stated Cope after being evaluated and launched from the infield care center.

“We were just trying to survive and get through this thing so next week we could kind of work on this thing”, he said.

70 Chevrolet, was slowing coming to a stop on the track after he noticed his brakes had failed when an explosion in the engine compartment crumpled the hood of his vehicle and stunned onlookers. And I don’t know really what it was.

According to USA Today, NASCAR returned the mangled vehicle to Cope following their evaluation of it. When his brake pedal started to lose its effect, Cope indicated he was looking for a place to pull off the course. “The shocks were all intact and the tires were up, so I don’t know what exploded”. A broken spindle initially created higher temperatures in a right front tire that is stressed greatly on the 2.45-mile, seven-turn road course.