Furniture Row Racing hauler suffers damage in hit-and-run accident
Furniture Row Racing reported that its No. 77 team hauler was the victim of a hit-and-run accident early Thursday morning near Las Vegas Motor Speedway shortly after leaving for
Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
“The incident occurred when a car carrying two occupants pulled off the shoulder and back onto the highway directly in front of the Furniture Row Racing hauler on Interstate 15 approximately 15 miles north of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Truck drivers Travis Watts, who was at the wheel, and David Shano were uninjured,” the team said in a press release issued late Thursday afternoon. “There was no damage to the trailer or its contents, including the No. 77 Toyota Camrys prepared for driver Erik Jones for this week’s event. However, the tractor sustained front-end damage and a replacement tractor has been rented from Rush Truck Centers of North Las Vegas.”
“We’re all very relieved no one was injured in the incident,” said Joe Garone, president of Furniture Row Racing. “There was substantial damage to the tractor but everything in the trailer was checked out thoroughly and is OK. We’ve rented a tractor and the No. 77 hauler is on schedule to arrive at Auto Club Speedway later today.”
“The occupants of the hit-and-run vehicle were later apprehended and arrested by the Nevada Highway Patrol,” the team added in its release.
This is not the first hauler incident for Furniture Row, unfortunately.
In November 2010, the team’s hauler was caught in a 34-vehicle accident some 30 miles south of Denver in a massive pile-up blamed on black ice on the highway.
Less than a year later, Furniture Row’s hauler was damaged in a fire that occurred after the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway. In that incident, one of the team’s gas cans exploded, triggering a fire.
