Following the Lucas Oil 200 at the Daytona International Speedway, one driver was sent to the hospital following a violent accident on the front stretch as the field crossed the finish line with just five laps to go.
Justin Fontaine got clipped by the no. 7 of Codie Rohrbaugh after the no. 58 of Clint King made contact with the Rohrbaugh which ultimately sent Fontaine into the outside wall causing him to go on the driver side of his car where it slid a good bit before coming to a rest on it’s roof.
Justin was alert but when crews got the car back on all fours but the roof on the no. 33 ProMATIC Automation Toyota had to be cut off and Justin had to be carefully pulled out of the car. He would be transported to a local hospital where he would later be diagnosed with a compression fracture in the L1 Vertebrae.
“I’d like to thank ARCA and the Daytona International Speedway safety and medical teams for their amazing job attending to Justin following his accident. Justin is in good spirits and we hope to be able to provide a further update on his recovery time when it’s appropriate.” Fontaine added, “I just want to let everyone know that I’m okay and I’m thankful for the outreach of support. I also want to thank Win-Tron Racing for building me a safe race car. I’d also like to especially thank ARCA and the track for their quick actions after the accident. It looks like I’ll be out of the car for a while, but I’d like to thank ProMATIC Automation for giving me the opportunity to compete at Daytona.”
When his car first made contact with the safer barrier protected wall, the wall itself received damage that would ultimately end the Lucas Oil 200 at lap 80. Austin Theriault would be declared the winner of the race while Fontaine would be scored 13th.
