“Priceless”- The Late 1980s Daytona 500 Winner’s Freakish Ambulance Failure Story Has the NASCAR Community in Splits

NASCAR, over its 75 years of racing, has had its fair share of intense moments. But equally, the sport has also dished out some of the most hilarious moments that have often left the community in stitches. From Carl Edwards’ epic sprint across the finish line in 2009 to a groundhog stealing the spotlight during Xfinity Series race practice in Michigan, these are some of the notable laugh-out-loud moments in NASCAR that are timeless.

However, none of these hold a candle to Buddy Baker’s funny mishap at the Smoky Mountain Speedway back in 1968. This track isn’t really on the radar among the community, as the spot only hosted a dozen National Series races from 1965 to 1971. The half-mile clay oval even saw Richard Petty snag six wins, including the final race in 1971.

The infamous Buddy Baker story in his own voice

The hilarious story first started out as a serious accident with Baker getting injured in a crash on Lap 75 of 200. The driver himself narrated the ordeal during a television show, and the same clip has now surfaced back online. X account, nascarman, shared the video where Buddy is seen narrating the infamous story.

After blowing a right front tire, Baker Buddy’s racecar made contact with the wall, which resulted in him damaging his ribs. As a result, the driver was assisted by the track staff in an old hearse, and this is where things took a turn for the worst. “They put me up in the back of that thing, and here goes this ambulance around the corner, and I go, ‘I don’t think I ran this fast tonight’. They had to open the gate for us to leave from the back straightaway. About that time, the guy hit the accelerator and the back door flew open, and they didn’t tighten the wheels up on the thing, so I shot out the back.”

Explaining his misery further, he added, “I’m going round-and-round down the racetrack, and I see these cars going whooh! whooh! whooh! on both sides of me. I knew I had to do something, so I got one arm out of the straps and I started waving. I went down and hit in the red mud on the inside of the racetrack, and this gurney goes end-over-end. Then the little guy came over there and said, ‘Are you hurt?’. I said, ‘No, I’m dead. All you’ve got to do is cover me up here.”

While there have been many funny stories about NASCAR drivers, this particular one surely took the cake. So much so that fans soon started to flood in with their reactions online. Some are even hyping it as the best NASCAR story ever.

NASCAR fans react to the Smoky Mountain Speedway story

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It’s rare to see drivers getting stuck on a racetrack after getting wrecked. Thanks to the stacked safety measures and fast-acting crew. So, after hearing this wild yet funny tale, fans agreed it was a one-off moment and dubbed it “Priceless.”

NASCAR fans are known to collect memorabilia and merchandise. However, in this case, one particular fan captured this interview by Barker on a DVD to cherish it for years to come. “I have this deal on dvd and it’s absolutely hilarious”.

Another fan even recalled the time when he first heard this story on the radio while driving his car, “He told the story on his radio show with Alex Hayden. I was driving and laughing my a** off. Buddy told some great stories”.

For a first-time listener, this story is guaranteed to leave them in stitches, and that is what happened with one user online. “That’s about too funny😂”.

Baker had won the iconic Daytona 500 in 1980, along with 18 other Cup Series victories. He was also inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2020. But apart from his skills as a racer, he was also a good orator, which was visible in his storytelling prowess in the video clip. Heaping praise on his off-track talents, a fan even claimed, “One of if not the best storyteller. And one of the most humble and kind people you’ll ever meet”.

Even though there are some good options for the fans to choose as NASCAR’s most hilarious moments, this surely has to rank high in any of those lists.