Jordan Anderson reflects on fiery Talladega crash, racing future

Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

When Jordan Anderson‘s truck suddenly caught fire and slid during a race last month at Talladega Superspeedway, he could see the wall as he unbuckled his belts.

Yes, he knew he could get hurt. But the heat in the cockpit was so intense, it didn’t matter to him that he might hit the wall while not being strapped into his vehicle.

“Everybody thought I couldn’t see where I was going,” Anderson said. “But I could see the wall. My goal was to shoot towards the wall because at least that will help slow it down and get me out of there.

“So that was my goal — to try to time it to hit the wall and come out of it at the same time.”

Anderson executed the exit perfectly as he was able to hop out of his seat and onto the door window as his truck hit the wall. He was either very lucky or has an innate ability to pull off a stunt in a life-threatening situation.

“Somebody said James Bond uses a stunt guy and I do my own stunts,” Anderson said. “Not exactly how you want to make the highlight reel.”

The 31-year-old driver and team owner was back at the track four weeks after his accident to watch his Xfinity Series team compete at Martinsville Speedway. He wore a turtleneck as he was recovering from burns to his neck and arms.

Few could believe he had not suffered any broken bones or other serious injuries. He had been airlifted to the hospital following the accident but was released that night after being treated for second-degree burns to his neck, arms, hands and knees.

Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!

The burns were the result of an intense fire that reached the cockpit. Some thought it was an engine failure that caused the fire, but Anderson said it was not.

“Something got into the oil line, the main feed line that’s in front of the motor and cut a hole in it and it basically dumped the contents of the whole oil tank on the headers. That’s why the fire was so big and so quick,” Anderson said.

The fire then apparently came through some of the duct work typically used to cool the cockpit, Anderson said. NASCAR took the truck after the accident and could consider changes to prevent such an issue in similar situations.

“It came in through the hose across me and out the window net,” Anderson said. “That’s why it was so bad and got so hot. It was just a freak deal.”

The truck, like all NASCAR national series vehicles, has two fire extinguishers. There is one at the area of the fuel cell. That extinguisher must be heat activated, and it appeared to have activated in Anderson’s accident.

NASCAR also requires a fire extinguisher in the cockpit. That one is manually activated (typically with a toggle that a driver can reach from the cockpit) with the driver option to have it heat activated.

Drivers can be reluctant to have it heat activated…