Crews’ Dover Hopes Go Up In Flames After Early Crash

The wreckage of Brent Crews' No. 18 JBL Toyota at Dover Motor Speedway Friday. (Matt Blackley photo)

DOVER, Del. – Brent Crews started Friday’s General Tire 150 as the chief challenger to ARCA Menards Series dominator Brenden Queen, but his pursuit of victory at Dover Motor Speedway ended in flames.

Crews was running second, less than four seconds behind Queen in the battle for the race lead, when his No. 18 JBL Toyota blew a right front tire and slammed the outside wall at the exit of turn four.

The car coasted against the SAFER Barrier halfway down the frontstretch before coming to rest between the start-finish line and the entrance to turn one, with fire blazing from under the hood as it did so.

No more did the car stop moving than Crews bailed out and safely walked away from the dramatic scene. What he’d hoped to be a third ARCA platform win of the season instead was a shocking DNF.

“I just want to thank the Lord for keeping me safe, first and foremost,” said Crews after being released from the infield care center. “That was super scary and I feel like we’re tested about every year, at least once or twice, if we’re race car drivers or not. That moment freaked me out a bit, I won’t lie, and I’m glad to walk away from that one.

“JGR brought a really fast car; we were just coasting there on that run,” he added. “There was [potential] rain coming and with a hundred laps to go, I wasn’t going to risk anything in lap traffic. We were going to have a shot to win and it’s unfortunate that the day ended up in flames like that.”

Crews was also quick to point out that there was no warning before his car veered right and tattooed the wall in a vicious impact.

“That’s the crazy thing; I had no idea what was coming,” said the 17-year-old from Hickory, N.C. “I went into (turns) three and four … I had been loose all day, but that lap where we crashed, I got weirdly tight for the first time. Kind of out of nowhere, I was fighting snug all the way through the corner, and then out of four it went dead straight.

“I’m going to guess the tire started to go flat heading into three and then fully blew off of four there,” Crews continued. “Thanks to JBL Audio and Toyota GAZOO Racing for everything they do for me, and I’m excited to be back in the seat next weekend.”

Friday was Crews’ fourth ARCA platform start of the season. His first two races – a national-West combo event at Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway in March and a standalone East race at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway in April – both resulted in victories.

Prior to Dover, Crews ran the ARCA Menards Series stop at the Lime Rock Park road course in Connecticut and finished sixth despite both a first-lap spin and a later jumped restart setting him back.

Dover marked the teenager’s worst-ever result in a national ARCA Menards Series event. His only finish lower than 21st on the ARCA platform was at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June of 2024, when Crews finished 23rd in a standalone ARCA West race after losing a wheel 31 laps in.

Fortunately, Crews will have a quick opportunity to bounce back, as he’ll be back behind the wheel for the JGR ARCA program on Friday, July 25 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Crews will also compete in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at IRP the same night, driving the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage in his third of nine scheduled Truck Series races this year.

Broadcast coverage of the ARCA Menards Series stop at IRP is slated for 5:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the FOX Sports App, and select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network.