The NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse seems to be a crash magnet in the Cup Series, and the September 29th, 2025 event at Kansas Speedway was no different. In a bizarre wall-riding accident, a Mustang ended up on its side, though its driver escaped injury, a testament to the car’s strength.
According to a report from NASCAR.com, Zane Smith was behind the wheel of the No. 38 NASCAR Ford Mustang when it tipped onto its side after contact with a competitor. Squeezed against the barrier, Smith's race car wound up driver's side down, skidding along the wall for several hundred feet before it finally separated from the wall and rolled before coming to a rest on all four wheels. Smith was able to exit the race car under his own power, but was understandably shaken after the wild ride.
Speaking on the "Hauler Talk" podcast, Mike Forde, NASCAR managing director of communications, explained that the NASCAR Ford held up exactly like it was designed to under the conditions, protecting Smith from what could have been a very serious injury.
"We never like seeing that, so there is concern that it happened, but from the structural integrity of the car, we’re not concerned," Forde said. "We were very, very happy with how all that went down... Nothing was bent, nothing was abnormal, so we gave the car back to the team, and they brought it back to the shop."
He added, "Zane came away really good there as far as how his seat positioning was, and there was no concern there, either. So, I think the next steps are we’ll look at the race track, look at some more of the data as far as how it got up on the wall. Because cars do get pinched up against the wall often, and you don’t always see that. But all in all, we’re pretty happy with how all that went from a car standpoint."
The NASCAR Ford Mustang does a good job protecting its drivers. The race car kept Ryan Preece safe when he rolled at Daytona not once but twice in 2023 and 2025. Chris Buescher walked away from a similar crash at Charlotte in 2023 that proved the Mustang holds up well in crashes.
Comments
My 1980 Ford Mustang notchback was hit sideways by a metro bus, and was pushed several feet until we stopped. I was not injured and managed to drive home with the front fender and hood crumpled. That is how strong the Fox body is!
NASCAR is very disappointing now days. They have ruined any real competition between the OEMs.
Bring back the days when manufacturers built vehicles to compete with each other. And that goes for engine too. I don’t even watch NASCAR any more. It’s got nothing to do with the car only the drivers
Well there dude. There are a lot of us that watch nascar, and I’ve watched it for 30+ years. I can tell you with great confidence that it is more exciting and entertaining now than ever before. Sorry to loose a fellow fan but lives change and I can understand that.
Wow, a sane fan in the comments!!! Boomers cant handle it when we point out that racing in the 80s was mostly quite boring and leaders often lapped the entire field