BARTLETT, Tenn. – Veteran World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series competitor Jason Sides was noticeably absent during last week’s trio of races in Pennsylvania, and will likely remain on the sidelines this weekend as well as his team recovers from an unfortunate incident on the road.
Sides was rear ended at a high rate of speed while traveling the Keystone State. The impact, which occurred on a freeway in Ohio, shoved the back door of his trailer into his sprint car.
“We’re still in limbo, waiting on insurance,” Sides said. “We had a trailer lined up to be able to race this weekend, but it was sold … so that fell through.”
Sides said his team returned to the shop in Tennessee and used a forklift to remove the rear door of the trailer. He had to build a custom ramp to exit the race car and mule from inside the trailer as the back door works as a ramp.
“When we got hit, the door pushed the rear bumper into the tail tank, but the race car is mostly okay,” he said. “A couple of cabinet doors fell off inside the trailer. Most of the damage is to the rear of the trailer. Right now we’re dealing with insurance and hopefully we can get back to racing very soon. Fortunately, we are all okay so that’s the most important thing.”
Sides said it will be a week-to-week decision on when he is able to put together an opportunity to resume racing.
The Bartlett, Tenn., native is 14th in points as of Monday, with one top-10 finish this season in 16 feature starts. He sits 785 points back of leader Brad Sweet.