NASCAR Truck Series race at Talladega marred by fight. What happened, and what’s next

With two laps left in Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series race, Nick Sanchez rammed into Matt Crafton and ignited a massive pileup.

Moments after Brett Moffitt emerged victorious, a fistfight broke out between Sanchez and Crafton that was captured by Frontstretch.

“You (messed) with the wrong guy!” Sanchez, whose face was covered in blood, yelled at Crafton during an expletive-laced tirade in the video.

After being released from Talladega Superspeedway’s infield care center, Sanchez told reporters that Crafton tapped him on the back and punched him in the face as he was walking back to his hauler.

NASCAR is gathering all information from the situation and will announce any ruling on disciplinary action later in the week, an official told The Charlotte Observer.

And it wasn’t the only wreck that garnered social media attention from Saturday’s Truck Series race. Zane Smith veered off while attempting a pit stop at the end of Stage 1 and his No. 38 Ford spun. The car hit crew member Charles Plank, who was carrying two tires, and the Fox Sports 1 broadcast caught several angles of Plank being hit by the truck.

“I thought I could clear it,” Plank told FS1 in an interview moments later. “But it looks like I almost cleared it jumping over. I’m glad I made it on the deck lid instead of getting underneath it. ... I’m great to go.”

On Saturday, longtime driver Brad Keselowski was asked about the upcoming Netflix sports documentary series about the NASCAR Cup Series and how it should portray the sport to the masses. Keselowski said he always loved how racing involved the “common man doing uncommon things.” He felt that was how Ken Squire would portray the sport, and that was why he’d rewatch CBS races Squire broadcasted when he was a kid.

“One of the things I find so interesting about our sport is that we work so hard for safety — and that’s important, we should always work toward it — but we almost, to some degree, tell the story too much,” Keselowski said. “It is still pretty dangerous, and it’s like we’re trying to convince ourselves that it’s safe.

“We come here, weekends like this, and you see the big wrecks. We’re trying to make ourselves feel better by telling the safety story, but at the same time, it’s kind of like maybe we shouldn’t talk so much about it. I think we almost water it down for fans, and they don’t understand just how dangerous it still really is to be a race car driver.”