As the saying goes, anything can and will happen on live television. That’s not just a line WWE uses, it’s true, and NASCAR has had their fair share of oddball moments and overall utter strangeness. As tweeted by NBC, the Orange incident happened 19 years ago this weekend. Being reminded of this got our gears turning here at The Daily Downforce.
So, let’s talk about some strange or bizarre moments captured on camera that put a hitch in the plans of NASCAR and/or the drivers plans for a smooth race weekend.
Of course, first up is the infamous orange incident. It happened during a 2004 qualifying session at Chicagoland. A gust of wind hit a giant inflatable Tropicana Orange just right and carried it onto the racing surface during an active session. The balloon was almost hit by the No. 7 car but he was narrowly able to squeeze by. One thing is for certain: the orange completed the lap and set a new track record.
Danica Patrick today is seen generally as a NASCAR bust. But that wasn’t always the case. When she first made the move from INDYCAR over to NASCAR, there were a lot of eyes on her and she brought a lot of fans with her. It may have slightly helped her out that she was driving the No. 7 car for NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver at the time, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
While she never lived up to the hype placed onto her, she was very close to winning a race in the Xfinity Series. As the laps were winding down in the 2012 race in Montreal, Patrick was in a commanding position. That was until someone threw a shoe onto the racing surface. Patrick ran over it and it broke something underneath her Go Daddy Impala. She would drop like a rock soon after and bring it home in the 27th position. Absolutely tragic.
During a red flag at Walkins Glen one year, a fan raced onto the track and over to the passenger side window of Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 Dewalt Fusion. And, yes, I know what you are thinking: it wasn’t our buddy Eric…we think.
Whatever the case, the fan did get his autograph and was then subsequently arrested. Apparently, there were an absurd amount of arrests that weekend, ranging from this to public urination to…pretty much everything in-between. Kind of a strange fact to go with our list here. Do with it what you will.
Dale Earnhardt’s struggles to win the Daytona 500 have been documented online ad nauseum. As NASCAR celebrates its 75th anniversary, one of the memories that will never be forgotten, and is occasionally played in a video package before any given race, is when Dale Earnhardt finally captured the big one in 1998. I’m sure all of you can hear Mike Joy emotionally say: “Twenty years of trying, twenty years of frustration.” That sometimes plays on loop in my own mind.
During one of his two sit downs with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the Dale Jr. Download, Larry Mac said that people come up to him all the time and thank him for finally delivering that illusive race to Earnhardt and his fans. Mac rather humbly responds with: “I was just the guy atop the pit box when nothing went wrong.” It’s true.
One of the stranger moments was the time a seagull flew in front of the No. 3 Goodwrench Chevy and got absolutely creamed. This would throw Earnhardt off strategy as he would need repairs from the massive hit. His car was never as good as it was just prior to that moment. What a freaky set of circumstances!
We don’t know what possessed this fan to climb the catch fence and have a seat. We can only assume that a substance or two was involved. Whatever the case, one year at Richmond, some dude climbed the catch fence and sat down. Maybe he felt his seats weren’t close enough to the action, I don’t know.
In 2015 during pitstops at Sonoma, good ole Matty D was involved in an incident as he attempted to turn left into his pit stall. Now, pit road run-ins are hardly unheard of. What’s not so typical when it comes to this accident is the fact that it was a Toyota Safety Truck that was the other vehicle involved. At least they got out unscathed.
In 2013 during a race at Kansas, a caution was thrown due to smoke. No, not THE SMOKE, as in Tony Stewart, and it wasn’t an actual car that caused the cloud of smoke to linger onto the racing surface. By all accounts, it was a fire started by a poorly put out cigarette.
During a race at Atlanta, Kevin Harvick keys in on his radio that he almost hit a cat. In the footage below, you can see a fairly sizeable black blob dart across the racing surface in front of Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Jimmy Johns machine.
After further investigation, it wasn’t a cat at all but a pretty big squirrel.
In 2008 at Auto Club Speedway, a caution light fell from the catch fence and littered down to the racing surface. I’d call that light precipitation.
One year at the Charlotte Roval, Chris Buescher in his No. 37 Chevy for JTG Racing spun. He hit a sign sponsored by EchoPark Automotive and got along so well with the sponsorship group that he decided to take their signage with him.
What are some other strange things to happen during NASCAR races? Let us know, Daily Downforce readers!
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell claims that he feels NASCAR “got a little lazy” in its attempts to keep growing the sport during a recent interview.
NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell is entering his first full season as NASCAR President, after taking over the post from former President Steve Phelps in March 2025.
O’Donnell took over his post during a turbulent time in sports history, as schedule changes and car generations compounded fans’ growing issues with things such as the 2014 playoff system.
To add to his troubles, NASCAR was in the midst of a heated antitrust lawsuit with two of its teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, that was bound for court in late 2025.
Ultimately, NASCAR would manage to put a bow on most of its troubles before the start of the 2026 season, settling the lawsuit with the two teams, changing its points format, and expressing an openness to explore changes to its NASCAR Next Gen car, such as increased horsepower on short tracks and road courses.
This whirlwind of change is turning gears in the NASCAR fanbase, with many fans saying a lot of the reshuffling is just as good for the sport as putting things such as the lawsuit and playoffs in the rear-view mirror, a sentiment shared by O’Donnell.
During an interview with Sports Business Journal on Monday, the long-time NASCAR executive said, “This is the first year I can remember where we’re going into the season, just talking about racing and what’s great about NASCAR.”
This isn’t the only shared feeling between O’Donnell and NASCAR fans, as prior to that, he said he felt NASCAR had grown “a little lazy” after overtaking IndyCar as the top motorsport in America, something he has even told NASCAR employees.
“When I started at NASCAR, we were chasing IndyCar, and the goal was, if we can just kind of surpass IndyCar, and we did that, and, you know, I’ve told our employees, I think we all got a little lazy.” — Steve O’Donnell
While many fans would agree that NASCAR has turned around for the better, there is still work to be done, and in O’Donnell’s eyes, the sport is in a prime spot to grow.
“My job and all of our jobs is to bring the industry together and talk about, we got a pretty cool thing going here, and we can really grow it,” O’Donnell said.
NASCAR isn’t exactly setting lofty goals for itself in 2026, at least in public, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the attention of its fanbase.
While the revived Chase format has drawn back some eyes, things like NASCAR’s “Hell Yeah” advertising campaign were the talk of the NASCAR community entering the 2026 Daytona 500.
That race also produced a finish that saw NBA legend, team owner, and former NASCAR lawsuit plaintiff, Michael Jordan, bring home another major race win on National TV with driver Tyler Reddick.
This race also saw a slight increase in viewership from the 2025 Daytona 500, one hurt by a major rain storm that blew in early in the race’s running.
Though TV ratings may not be skyrocketing, NASCAR has early momentum to make 2026 good enough to set a firm foundation for O’Donnell’s goals of growth, but maintaining that momentum will be another challenge in and of itself.
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The NASCAR Truck Series breaks off from the main touring series schedule this weekend, but that doesn’t mean the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series aren’t racing. So, whether you are going to be at the track or home, what does the forecast look like for the race weekend in Austin, Texas?
Before the OAP Series Race (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the OAP Series Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
After the OAP Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
Before the Cup Series Race (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the Cup Series Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
After the Cup Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
When the three NASCAR National Series rolled into Austin for COTA’s first NASCAR race weekend in 2021, no one could have guessed the chaos that lay in wait. A major rain shower did not prevent the series from racing that day, as, though it was still somewhat foreign at the time, NASCAR sent the Cup Series out in the rain for a chaotic race, ultimately won by Chase Elliott.
Note: This article will be updated with a more accurate and detailed forecast as the race weekend nears.
After back-to-back drafting tracks, NASCAR’s three National Series split ways as the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series head for Circuit of the Americas, and the Truck Series makes its debut at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
This information will be available when NASCAR releases it on Monday afternoon.
Note: This article will be updated as more information about the weekend comes out.
