NASCAR star offers health update after shocking pit-stop injury

NASCAR Cup Series star Shane van Gisbergen has offered a health update after one of his pit crew suffered a shocking injury at Pocono last time out.

The incident occurred on lap 16 of stage two during last weekend's Cup Series race, triggered by AJ Allmendinger hitting one of his tire changers as he massively overshot his pit box when coming in for a tire change and refuelling.

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Allmendinger's tire changer was unharmed, but he did lose grip of one of the two tires he was carrying to the right side of the car, and unfortunately, there were serious consequences.

With van Gisbergen coming in for a pit stop at the same time, his tire changer JP Kealey was getting into position, wheel gun in hand, when he was hit by the wandering tire, knocking him flying first into the No. 88 and then to the floor.

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Glad our pit crew teammates on the 88 were okay after this little issue on pit road.

JP is TUFF so we know he’ll be alright. 💪 https://t.co/PKE2ZhNAsB pic.twitter.com/dimhDlqywg

— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) June 22, 2025

SVG reveals crew member health update

Whilst Kealey completed the pit stop, the shocking extent of his injuries were later revealed, with the tire changer suffering multiple broken ribs and a punctured lung as a result of the tire impact.

Naturally, Kealey is not at this weekend's race at Atlanta, and van Gisbergen provided an update on his medical status when speaking to the media.

"Yeah, so he had a fractured rib, I think, and a partially punctured lung, so yeah, a couple weeks off," Van Gisbergen told CBS Sports' Steven Taranto.

"But yeah, back home now, so yeah, it's time, I've done ribs myself, it's not real fun, so he's got to take it easy for as long as he needs and come back when he's good to go."

For this weekend's race at Atlanta, Kealey was replaced by Noel “Bud” Merrill Jr.

It remains to be seen when Kealey will return to action, with a full recovery clearly his and the team's priority at this stage.

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