Jeff Gordon had a violent crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
When you think of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, one of the incidents that stands out — and not in a good way — was Jeff Gordon’s horrific crash in 2008.
Gordon, the four-time NASCAR champion and now an analyst for FOX, was battling with Matt Kenseth for second place just after a restart, when the two made contact, sending Gordon’s car nose-first towards the inside wall on the backstretch.
The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet hit at a spot where there was an opening in the wall and no SAFER barrier. So violent was the contact that it completely ripped the radiator out of Gordon’s car, which spun helplessly after the impact.
And Gordon would later call the crash “probably the hardest I’ve ever hit … I couldn't have hit the wall at a worse angle — it really tore the thing up.”
The good news is that Gordon wasn’t seriously injured and the crash helped lead NASCAR and the tracks to add additional SAFER barriers in unprotected areas, a work in progress for years to follow.
Still, it was a scary moment for one of NASCAR’s all-time greats.
