Camaro Pace Car Breaks During NASCAR Race

Camaro Pace Car Breaks During NASCAR RaceNASCAR on NBC / Twitter

Today's season-altering NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville was briefly delayed by a Chevrolet Camaro pace car breaking down from the front of the field. After some confusion, a safety truck with its own set of flashing lights took over at the front of the field for the remainder of the caution period.

HAVE YOU EVER?!

The pace car needed a tow truck. 😆 #NASCAR | NBC pic.twitter.com/LL9BRAoQ4q

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 29, 2023

While the car's issue was not immediately clear, whatever caused the Camaro to grind to a halt happened quickly. The pace car driver pulled to a stop at the top of a corner just before the race would have gone back to green, causing the entire field to check up in some confusion about whether or not they could pass the now-broken pace car. That, thankfully, did not turn into a low-speed pile-up crash of its own, so the safety truck was able to quickly get into position after cars ran a few feet on their own without anyone pacing the field. A couple of laps later, the race re-started without any issue.

Although the safety truck did an admirable job of keeping cars lined up over the end of the caution where the pace car broke, the track had a back-up pace car ready to go. That car, another Camaro in the same pink livery, has taken over pacing duties for the remainder of the 500-lap race. Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin, the two fastest cars of the day, will return to fighting their way back through a group of drivers who chose to stay with older tires during a late cycle of pit stops.

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