The grandson of a racing champion that was killed during a NASCAR practice session for the 1994 Daytona 500, has himself been involved in a serious auto accident during a race.
Justin Bonnett, the grandson of Neil Bonnett, suffered serious injuries and was rushed to a local hospital after a fiery crash during Saturday night’s Snowflake 100 Pro Late Model race in Pensacola, Florida.
According to Autoweek.com, during lap 54, Jarrett Parker’s car struck Bonnett’s car. During the crash, the fuel cell from Parker was dislodged and ended up skidding along the track with the two cars – sparking a fiery explosion and leaving the track ignited.
Jarrett Parker lost control on the backstretch and came up the track and connected with Justin Bonnett.
That's how the fuel cell got stripped apart. https://t.co/hSRqUxmlwF
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) December 8, 2019
Bonnett was inside the burning car for at least a minute before track officials were able to pull him from the car and he was immediately taken to a local hospital, then airlifted to University of South Alabama’s trauma center.
The scene of absolute chaos.
Justin Bonnett is the 12, but it was the 46 (far frame) who took a hit that shot the fuel cell a good 75 feet further into the center of the corner.@5FlagsSpeedway | #Snowflake100 pic.twitter.com/QrUxw5kTNO
— Jacob Seelman (@JacobSeelman77) December 8, 2019
Bonnett’s aunt, Kristen Bonnett Ray, shared status updates on both Justin Bonnett’s social media and her own explaining his injuries and prognosis as time went by.
“Justin has sustained a broken leg and burns and is being treated as I type this,” she wrote on Saturday night. “Thank you to everyone who helped extinguish the fire and help get him out of the car. Thank you all for the messages, texts call and most of all the prayers. Please continue to lift him up in prayer. I will update as soon as I have more information.”
https://www.facebook.com/JustinBonnettRacing/posts/796820424082443
Bonnett then underwent surgery for his leg and doctors were treating his burns at the same time.
Kristen Bonnett Ray later updated everyone on her social media account saying that Justin had “sustained burns to his hands, face, and neck” while also suffering from a compound fracture of the fibula and tibula.
https://www.facebook.com/kristen.ray.10/posts/10216671139117096
Watch the full video of the crash below. Our thoughts and prayers are with Justin Bonnett as he works toward recovering from this incident.