Tire Changer Details Pit Stop Accident That Resulted In Broken Rib, Collapsed Lung
Kealey, the rear tire changer for Shane van Gisbergen, picked up his air wrench and performed his pit-stop duties.
That was his last stop of the day. A broken rib and collapsed lung made him reluctantly go to the infield medical center and then eventually to the hospital for an overnight stay to make sure his lung reinflated on its own and his broken rib wasn't in danger of puncturing it.
"Ever since I was a kid, my dad always told me, 'Unless your leg is broken or something, you better get up off the floor of the ice and get back to the bench,'" Kealey said. "That's just kind of the standard for who I was, and what my dad instilled in me.
"No matter what happens, you've got to make sure you finish your job and then worry about what's going on later. It was kind of just instinctual. As soon as it happened, I picked up my [air] gun and I knew I had a job to finish, so I went out there, finished it, and then dealt with whatever's going on after."
Kealey is back this weekend, ready to work the Cup race at the Chicago street course, ready to change tires for the race favorite in what he hopes is his second win of the season.
"I feel pretty good," Kealey said. "I can do just about anything other than bench heavy [lifting], but nothing that's going to affect me out on pit road. I'm ready to go and get after it this week."
Kealey knows what it's like to perform at a high level on a sports stage. A Google search for him will bring up highlights of him as a professional lacrosse player. When the league didn't play during COVID, Kealey was recruited to become a pit-crew member.
He's been hit by hockey pucks and lacrosse balls. But never a tire, which is relatively rare. AJ Allmendinger had clipped the tire being held by his tire changer when coming in to pit, and he hit the tire — which flew in the air into Kealey, who was running around his car in the adjacent pit.
"You kind of get used to the idea of maybe getting hit by a car," Kealey said. "I saw AJ blow through his box, and I kind of checked up, because as I was jumping off the wall, he got kind of close to me.
"So when I checked up, I was looking down at his car to make sure it didn't hit me, and as soon as my eyes popped up to get to my approach to the rear of our car, the tire just hit me right away. I didn't really have a whole lot of time to react. I didn't see it coming. I definitely felt it once it got there."
Kealey said he was happy the tire didn't hit him in his head.
"When the tire hit me, I kind of knew I broke my rib," Kealey said. "I felt a pop.
"But the first thing that came to mind was finishing the stop, so I got back out there and finished the job. ... Once I found some shortness of breath and was struggling to breathe a little bit, that's when I knew something was wrong."
Many of the pit crew members on the elite teams are former college or professional athletes. NASCAR teams like them because they have experience performing under high pressure and the ability to master a task thanks to repetition after repetition in practice — while also being able to improvise in the moment if need be.
Kealey was not allowed to fly home from Pennsylvania after the injury, so he had to drive back to North Carolina. He got the OK to fly to Chicago this week and had no hesitation about going back to work.
When he played college lacrosse, Kealey said he played with a torn ACL and meniscus for eight months.
"It's part of it, right?" Kealey said. "We're all athletes. The danger of it's part of what makes it fun. You take hits in any sport. Stuff happens in any sport that you play. ... It doesn't change anything for me. I'm going to go out there and continue to do my job.
"It's not anything that's going to be in the back of my mind. I'm still going to jump over the wall and have the same intensity and same drive to go out there and succeed."
While crew members wear fire-retardant clothes and a helmet in case they fall or get upended by a car, Kealey knows there really isn't a way to protect himself from a flying tire.
"People have been joking and asking if I'm going to wear a flak jacket, stuff like that," Kealey said. "But I'm not too worried about it.
"I won't put anything on that's going to slow me down. ... I'm not really worried about it. It was just a freak accident. I'm going to go out there and just continue to do my job."
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
recommended
Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
What to watch for in today's NASCAR Cup race on the streets of Chicago
NASCAR holds back-to-back weekends of racing on courses that turn right and left. Today it is the streets of Chicago. Next weekend it will be the road course in Sonoma, California. Much can change over the next two races — and particularly today's race with the possibility of rain in the forecast. Here's a look at what to watch for in today's Chicago Street Race: A game of chicken … Unlike road courses, the Chicago street course has walls and barriers. Make a mistake and the penalty could be significant damage to the car. Drivers have to be daring but measured in their moves. 'If you go in (to a corner) side-by-side, even if you're the guy trying to make a pass and you make a mistake going into a 90-degree corner, if you lock up the inside tire, you could easily stuff yourself and the guy you're trying to pass in the tire barrier,' said Todd Gilliland, who finished seventh in last year's Chicago Street Race. 'You just really, really have to balance it – risk versus reward. It's definitely a tougher place to pass. There are obviously a lot of really good braking zones, but it's almost like playing a game of chicken with yourself.' Dustin Long, Three-time Cup champion Joey Logano was asked this weekend what his favorite part of the track is. 'It's probably Victory Lane, I just haven't seen it yet,' he said laughing. 'Up to this moment, it's been the ride home. Hopefully, it's not like that this time. 'This track is very challenging in its own way. When you look at Turns 1 and 6, you have no run-off, so there aren't many street courses that I know of at least, where you have long straightaways with literally no run-off, so the risk is huge here. 'When you go to push it, you send it in there a little bit too far, and we've seen that where a car goes straight right into the tire barrier. You don't have the ability to make mistakes and just turn around and get back going again.' Watch the points race Bubba Wallace, who starts 37th, enters today's race holding the final playoff spot. He has a 23-point lead on Ryan Preece, who starts seventh. Erik Jones, who starts 34th, is 49 points behind Wallace. Eight races remain in the regular season. Those just above Wallace also have to be worried. Alex Bowman is 39 points above the cutline. Chris Buescher is 52 points above the cutline. Bowman entered this race a year ago holding the final playoff spot. He won the event to secure a playoff spot. With AJ Allmendinger (three Cup road course wins), Michael McDowell (one Cup road course win) and Daniel Suarez (one Cup road course win) all outside the cutline, a win by them would take a playoff spot and move the cutline up. McDowell starts second, Allmendinger 16th and Suarez 18th. Buescher says he's focused on wins because of the likelihood the cutline will move up before the regular season ends. 'It's a must-win,' said Buescher, who starts eighth. 'I don't think you can look at it and say it's not. I think we need to go to the racetrack and we need to take chances and be fast. All of that brings points with it and if that's what we have to fall back to, then I hope we fall back and say that it was enough and we were proud that we were fast enough to earn those points in these stretches. 'I know over the last five weeks I saw a stat where our team has put more points on the board (183) than anybody else in the garage, so that's not because we're points racing. That's because we are bringing fast Mustangs to the racetrack. 'We're executing at a high level across the board and we're working on just getting these small details, fine-tuning this last little bit to where we can be in contention to win or put a trophy up on the shelf and that ultimately is the lock in.' Will rain impact the race (again)? Rain has played a key role in the previous two editions of this race. The forecast for today's race does call for a chance of rain. A race that is partly in wet and dry conditions could prove challenging for teams. 'I feel like most things that you would do for the car in the rain, are really going to hurt the car in the dry so trying to manage that the best you can and understand what those things are and what the weather is really going to do' Alex Bowman said. 'There have been so many times that we're sure it's going to rain and it doesn't rain and sure it's not going to rain it does rain, so I wish I could be wrong about my job as much as the weatherman. 'But yeah, I mean, I think it's continued to look like more rain (Sunday), so certainly have to be cognizant of it and, kind of know where we need to be with the race car to capitalize on that.' Said Brad Keselowski about the possibility of rain for the race: 'I hope it doesn't rain, not just for the competitors but for the fans. I hate it for them when it rains. This is such a unique experience and I just want it to be a perfect day for everybody.' Watch the back of the pack Three of the top four drivers in the points will start at the back of the pack and the driver holding the final playoff spot also will be starting in the back with them. William Byron (points leader), Chase Elliott (second in points) and Denny Hamlin (fourth in points) all will start at the back of the field. Nate Ryan, Byron and Elliott did not make qualifying attempts after contact with the wall in separate incidents in practice. Hamlin suffered a blown engine in practice. Byron is scheduled to start 38th, Elliott 39th and Hamlin 40th in the 40-car field. Also, Alex Bowman (qualified 11th) and Kyle Larson (14th) will move to the rear of the field after repairs to both cars, meaning all four Hendrick Motorsports cars will start at the back of the field. Starting 37th will be Bubba Wallace, who holds the final playoff spot by 23 points on Ryan Preece. Wallace had contact on his qualifying run.
NBC Sports
10 hours ago
- NBC Sports
After year of change, John Hunter Nemechek and No. 42 team reaching new heights
Travis Mack spent the offseason listening to radio communication John Hunter Nemechek had with his Legacy Motor Club team to better understand what he could do to help his new driver. Mack, who came to the team from Kaulig Racing, was just one of many changes Legacy Motor Club has gone through since the end of the 2023 campaign. Nemechek was brought in before the 2024 season as the organization moved from Chevrolet to Toyota. That change meant different ways of doing things, different tools and much to learn. Nemechek and teammate Erik Jones struggled last year as Legacy Motor Club went through additional personnel changes. Performance has improved for the team owned by seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Heading into Sunday's Chicago Street Race, Jones is 16th in the season standings, 49 points below the playoff cutline. Nemechek is 23rd in the season standings but has had a career-high six top-10 finishes this season — his most recent a sixth-place result two weeks ago in Mexico. Nemechek has four top 10s in the last eight races. The recent performance is a sign of how Mack and engineer Sydney Prince, who became the team's lead engineer in May, have worked well with Nemechek and given him a car he needs. That goes back to what Mack heard in the offseason as he listened to the radio communication Nemechek had with his team last year. Dustin Long, 'In his past, in lap one or two, they were on the radio already telling him how to drive,' Mack told NBC Sports. 'They were trying to lecture him on what he needed to do different, how to drive like somebody else.' Along with Legacy Motor Club's cars getting better, Mack also seeks to give Nemechek more freedom on what he needs with the car. 'The sim driver could tell us something all week, but if (Nemechek) goes out and says 'You can't do that … the car is not capable of that,' we've got to trust what he's telling us and that's one of the biggest things.' Nate Ryan, That also relates to the information the team provides Nemechek to help him. 'We put together a ton of notes throughout the week on (such items as) differences of how he drives vs. other people,' Prince told NBC Sports. 'He'll retain that information and he'll go out there and run how he thinks he needs to drive the car and have that (information) in the back of his head, so if we need to change up something during practice or during the race, it's not necessarily changing his driving style to drive like other people — because none of the drivers are exactly the same — it's just notes to keep stacking on ways to get better.' All of that has helped Nemechek perform better on the track since May, scoring sixth-place finishes at Pocono and Mexico, an eighth-place result at Texas and a 10th-place run at Kansas. 'I think it's confidence in your equipment,' Nemechek told NBC Sports. 'When I go out on the racetrack, I'm confident that I know that he car is going to stick and that I can push it. Last year, you never really knew what you were going to get from a correlation aspect, from unloading from sim to the racetrack. 'I know when I'm coming to the racetrack kind of where we're going to be as far as balance-wise. If it's not that way, it's not that way, but having confidence in them that we can make our cars better.' Nemechek says his team's growth is just an example of what's taking place at Legacy Motor Club this season. 'I think that last year was a very big building year,' he said. 'I think there were a lot of things that we didn't do great as team last year at Legacy. I think the personnel changes, the hires, the people that are now running competition, that are running the tech side, shop guys, everyone has bought in.'
Fox Sports
11 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Tire Changer Details Pit Stop Accident That Resulted In Broken Rib, Collapsed Lung
CHICAGO — JP Kealey just followed through with what his father taught him as a young athlete who played hockey and lacrosse when a flying tire nailed him in the chest during a race two weeks ago at Pocono Raceway. Kealey, the rear tire changer for Shane van Gisbergen, picked up his air wrench and performed his pit-stop duties. That was his last stop of the day. A broken rib and collapsed lung made him reluctantly go to the infield medical center and then eventually to the hospital for an overnight stay to make sure his lung reinflated on its own and his broken rib wasn't in danger of puncturing it. "Ever since I was a kid, my dad always told me, 'Unless your leg is broken or something, you better get up off the floor of the ice and get back to the bench,'" Kealey said. "That's just kind of the standard for who I was, and what my dad instilled in me. "No matter what happens, you've got to make sure you finish your job and then worry about what's going on later. It was kind of just instinctual. As soon as it happened, I picked up my [air] gun and I knew I had a job to finish, so I went out there, finished it, and then dealt with whatever's going on after." Kealey is back this weekend, ready to work the Cup race at the Chicago street course, ready to change tires for the race favorite in what he hopes is his second win of the season. "I feel pretty good," Kealey said. "I can do just about anything other than bench heavy [lifting], but nothing that's going to affect me out on pit road. I'm ready to go and get after it this week." Kealey knows what it's like to perform at a high level on a sports stage. A Google search for him will bring up highlights of him as a professional lacrosse player. When the league didn't play during COVID, Kealey was recruited to become a pit-crew member. He's been hit by hockey pucks and lacrosse balls. But never a tire, which is relatively rare. AJ Allmendinger had clipped the tire being held by his tire changer when coming in to pit, and he hit the tire — which flew in the air into Kealey, who was running around his car in the adjacent pit. "You kind of get used to the idea of maybe getting hit by a car," Kealey said. "I saw AJ blow through his box, and I kind of checked up, because as I was jumping off the wall, he got kind of close to me. "So when I checked up, I was looking down at his car to make sure it didn't hit me, and as soon as my eyes popped up to get to my approach to the rear of our car, the tire just hit me right away. I didn't really have a whole lot of time to react. I didn't see it coming. I definitely felt it once it got there." Kealey said he was happy the tire didn't hit him in his head. "When the tire hit me, I kind of knew I broke my rib," Kealey said. "I felt a pop. "But the first thing that came to mind was finishing the stop, so I got back out there and finished the job. ... Once I found some shortness of breath and was struggling to breathe a little bit, that's when I knew something was wrong." Many of the pit crew members on the elite teams are former college or professional athletes. NASCAR teams like them because they have experience performing under high pressure and the ability to master a task thanks to repetition after repetition in practice — while also being able to improvise in the moment if need be. Kealey was not allowed to fly home from Pennsylvania after the injury, so he had to drive back to North Carolina. He got the OK to fly to Chicago this week and had no hesitation about going back to work. When he played college lacrosse, Kealey said he played with a torn ACL and meniscus for eight months. "It's part of it, right?" Kealey said. "We're all athletes. The danger of it's part of what makes it fun. You take hits in any sport. Stuff happens in any sport that you play. ... It doesn't change anything for me. I'm going to go out there and continue to do my job. "It's not anything that's going to be in the back of my mind. I'm still going to jump over the wall and have the same intensity and same drive to go out there and succeed." While crew members wear fire-retardant clothes and a helmet in case they fall or get upended by a car, Kealey knows there really isn't a way to protect himself from a flying tire. "People have been joking and asking if I'm going to wear a flak jacket, stuff like that," Kealey said. "But I'm not too worried about it. "I won't put anything on that's going to slow me down. ... I'm not really worried about it. It was just a freak accident. I'm going to go out there and just continue to do my job." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. recommended Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
