By Travis Barrett ~ Special To RaceDayCT
Rowan Pennink’s car is in flames after a scary Whelen Modified Tour practice crash Saturday at Thompson Speedway
THOMPSON — Rowan Pennink’s Icebreaker weekend got off to the worst possible start at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
The throttle on Pennink’s No. 93 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour ride stuck at the end of the long Thompson backstretch Saturday morning, sending him into the Turn 3 wall and resulting in a fiery crash that left Pennink’s primary car destroyed just a few laps into the only practice session for Sunday’s Icebreaker 150.
“Not a good way to the start the season,” Pennink said.
Pennink quickly scurried out of his car, barrel-rolling down the steep banking to safety in an effort to avoid the flames engulfing the engine and seeping into the cockpit.
Pennink was evaluated before leaving the infield, while safety crews extinguished the fire. The Huntingdon Valley, Pa., driver walked back to the garage area under his own power.
“Just running a couple laps of practice and getting into (Turn 3) there, the throttle hung up,” Pennink said. “Went straight in full throttle.”
Pennink said there was no inclination that something was amiss on any of his previous circuits around the .625-mile oval.
“Everything seemed good. I don’t know what happened,” he said. “You just let off the throttle (going into the corner), and it doesn’t come back.”
Pennink said the team will now go to a backup car.
Whelen Modified Tour officials go through Rowan Pennink’s car after his practice crash Saturday at Thompson Speedway
Glad rowan is ok
Not the way you want to start the season 🙁 Glad he’s alright.
Can someone explain to me how, in this age of such precisely over-engineered and minutely massaged iterations of the exact same basic mechanisms to throttle a modified’s carbureted small block for over 30 years , that this can even remotely have a chance of happening these days? Is it car mfgrs, team builders, carb design, or what?
Anytime a driver walks away it’s a good thing.
Need soft walls at Thomson,could of been a lot worse……