A very scary incident left Fox Sports NASCAR reporter Amanda Busick and pit crew member Donovan Williams with injuries on Friday at Dover Motor Speedway, but it could have been much worse.
A 4,000-pound runaway pit cart rolled downhill toward Busick on pit road while teams were setting up for NASCAR Truck Series qualifying.
Williams, a Hendrick Motorsports pit crew member who worked as a tire changer for Spire Motorsports, jumped in front of Busick and shielded her from the runaway pit box as they fell to the ground.
Williams and Busick each suffered minor injuries, with Williams, a former UConn football player, suffering the worst of it.
According to The Athletic, Williams suffered “a laceration to his right buttock that was so deep it was squirting blood, which caused him to feel lightheaded, along with severe road rash to his right hand.” He was hospitalized but was released on Friday night, and all X-rays came back negative.
Busick suffered a hyperextended knee and sore shoulder, along with cuts and bruises. And despite the injuries and big scare, she insisted on covering the NASCAR Truck Series race later in the day.
“Told [Williams] at hospital I hate we had to meet this way… But so grateful we did!” Busick posted to X on Saturday. “We both agreed what a reminder this is to never take any of it for granted. Can’t wait to hug you at a track again soon Donovan. And thank you to all who rushed to help us immediately.”
“You see it all happening in slow motion, but super-fast,” Busick explained, per The Athletic. “I could see the cart coming; I could see, who I now know is Donovan Williams, trying to brace the cart, but it just had so much speed. There was no way that he could keep up with it.
“This all happened in probably less than half a second, maybe a second. And Donovan, in his attempt to shield me, we kind of got collected and then would have been pushed, I don’t know, I’d say probably five to 10 feet together with the cart behind him and him on me.
“That guy saved my life.”
Williams told The Athletic, “Whether it was just a matter of circumstance, I just reacted in the situation, went with it and was hoping for the best.”
“Everyone was saying it kind of ran over me and clipped me as I moved Amanda out the way and fell on her kind of simultaneously,” Williams added. “I’m just feeling very, very blessed because that was a situation that could have been a lot worse if it had hit me a couple inches in any other direction.”
It was a heroic act from Williams, and thankfully, he and Busick both came out of it without serious injuries.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.