NASCAR cars and drivers often get involved in weird off-track incidents. Earlier, there was a bizarre incident ahead of the Snowball Derby in Pensacola. As it happened, race car driver Cameron Leytham was on his way to the race when there was a mishap. He was in his pickup truck, with the car strapped to a trailer, but the straps broke during the journey.
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This resulted in the car rolling off and somehow finding itself submerged in a swimming pool at the Red Roof Inn in Tillman’s Corner. NASCAR spotter Brett Griffin was rather incredulous at the scenes and dubbed it, ‘Hall of Famer What an Idiot sh*t’.
I don’t know how it happened. I don’t care how it happened. This is HALL OF FAME WHAT AN IDIOT shit right here. #WhatAnIdiot
Someone get me an address. https://t.co/N5j5wFrBE0 pic.twitter.com/9cjMqVdXMV
— Brett Griffin (@SpotterBrett) December 1, 2022
Thankfully, the pool was empty when the car went on its adventure. Speaking about the incident, Leytham said, “We were real bummed, but once we got it out, we decided we were gonna make the race and worked all night”. According to reports, they could have avoided the whole thing with a set of stronger straps.
How did the NASCAR community react and how did the driver perform?
Fortunately, Leytham and his crew could extricate the car and rebuild it back into racing condition. Then came the miracle, as 24 hours later, the #8 car managed to finish the race in a fine 3rd place. According to some friends, they had to drain out all the new fluids in the car. From there, they used diesel to clean out the fuel tank. Other emergency alterations included changing the spark plugs and transmission fluids.
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However, it was arduous work, though clean tools and proper hydration were massive boons during the entire process. Safe to say, when the driver went to inform the Red Roof Inn staff, they had a hard time believing him. It was only when they actually saw the submerged car that they realized that it was far from a prank. Luckily, everyone was able to pitch in and get the car race ready.
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Safe to say, the #8 car did not show any signs of suffering from its unexpected swim. Hence, Cameron Leytham was able to pilot it to an excellent third place at the Snowball Derby. Who would have guessed that the same car had undergone a mishap just a day prior?