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Sprint car driver McKenna Haase hospitalized after scary wreck at Knoxville Nationals

Matt Connollyby:Matt Connolly•08/10/24•

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McKenna Haase
( The Des Moines Register-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

Sprint car driver McKenna Haase was injured during a scary wreck at the Knoxville Nationals in Knoxville, Iowa on Friday.

Haase was involved in an incident with Terry McCarl early in the race, leading to her sprint car flipping over and flying up into the air. The car landed upside down, with Haase in it, as parts went flying. You can check out a video of the crash below:

The wreck happened early on in the race and resulted in McKenna Haase being hospitalized. Kelly Ann Haase, McKenna’s mother, provided an update on how she is doing early Saturday morning.

“Thank you to everyone who has reached out. Your prayers are all greatly appreciated. McKenna is currently in a lot of pain. She has chest pain, a pneumothorax in her lungs, ripped up mouth and tongue, very sore neck and body,” Kelly Ann posted on Facebook, according to Jeff Gluck.

“She was to be transferred to Des Moines, but both trauma centers (Mercy and Methodist) are full. Knoxville hospital is going to hold her and continue to monitor the pneumothorax with x-ray and CT. We pray that they will not need to insert a chest tube. She is currently stable.”

Kelly Ann made it clear that McKenna Haase is in a lot of pain at the moment and has a long road to full recovery. The statement continued:

“Unfortunately, her phone has disappeared from the track. So she is unable to take your calls. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers — we sincerely appreciate it!”

McKenna Haase is a 27-year-old driver from Des Moines, Iowa. According to her website, she fell in love with racing after meeting NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne in a shopping mall when she was in third grade.

Haase started her own race team — Team Haase Racing LLC — when she was 13. She started racing box stock outlaw karts in 2010 when she was 13, before racing sprint cars at the age of 17.

Her website adds that her mission is “to work in unison with partners, fans, and teams to create not only a winning race team, but a faith based race team focused on honesty, excellence, and integrity both off and on the racetrack.”

Hopefully McKenna Haase will be OK and back on the track soon after a scary crash on Friday.