Steve Grissom’s Atlanta Nightmare

The wreck that could’ve ended everything, but didn’t. Steve Grissom’s terrifying crash at Atlanta was the kind of moment that made even seasoned crew guys go pale. A car in flames, flipped, splintered, leaking oil — and somehow, a driver crawling out, foot stuck, body bruised, but fully awake.

• Grissom got caught between Jimmy Spencer and Robbie Gordon in a post-pit stop tangle.
• Mike Skinner clobbered him from behind, launching Grissom airborne with no brakes.
• He struck a 45-degree wall head-on — the worst possible angle — and lived to describe it.
• The car was upside down, on fire, with oil searing the roof as he tried to crawl out the wrong door.

NASCAR officials were stunned. His body was half out before they could even reach him. He had to back in through the broken cockpit just to escape through the right side. Feet tangled in wreckage. Suit cut off in the ambulance. And still, Grissom was conscious the entire time. That he walked away from it still doesn’t seem real. This was one of Atlanta’s most violent moments — and one of NASCAR’s most overlooked survival stories.

Watch Also: