Xfinity 500 pace car breaks down, needs to be towed at Martinsville

Well, here is something we don’t see every day in NASCAR. The Xfinity 500 pace car broke down and needed to be towed off the track. Pace cars are the last thing you expect to break down but that’s exactly what happened. Good news, there is a backup car just in case of an emergency like this.

While we are all worried about who is going to make the Championship 4, the race stopped. Caution laps were underway after an incident on the track. However, it took a little longer than expected. Next thing you know, the pace car is being hooked up to the tow truck and being taken to the garage.

To complete the caution laps, the cleanup truck acted as pace car. NASCAR kept things moving along as they dealt with the issue. The Xfinity 500 continues despite the issue.

HAVE YOU EVER?!

The pace car needed a tow truck. 😆 #NASCAR | NBC pic.twitter.com/LL9BRAoQ4q

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 29, 2023

Thanks to Noah Lewis who is at the track, we were able to catch what the issue was. The hot rubber on the track builds up on the street tires just like the race tires. Except worse, somehow. The pace car had so much rubber buildup, it yanked wiring out from under the car.

Check it out.

Update on the pace car:

All the rubber build up pulled wiring out from under it. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/bHJXjDPxrq

— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) October 29, 2023

With a strange moment like this, what else are we going to see in the Xfinity 500?

Xfinity 500 heating up late in the race

As the laps count down in this Xfinity 500, things are going to just get more intense. We saw it in the Xfinity Series yesterday, we’re about to see it in the Cup Series. Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney are set to inherit the lead if and when the leaders hit pit road. They were jumped by drivers taking just fuel.

So, this race is wide open. We don’t know which strategy is going to win out or what will happen at the end of the race points-wise. Martin Truex Jr. has already served a pit road speeding penalty. William Byron has lacked speed most of the afternoon. Tyler Reddick the same.

Chris Buescher is in a must-win situation. He’s one of the drivers flipping the tire strategy and hoping it pays off. This race has a lot of laps left, about 120 and anything can happen in that time.

This Xfinity 500 is going to decide our Championship 4. We’re about to see what they’re all willing to do in order to advance.