July 3, 200620 yr Sutton's truck race at Kansas ends in crash for 2nd straight year KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Kelly Sutton's last two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races at Kansas Speedway have ended in scary moments. Sutton was admitted to the University of Kansas Hospital in fair condition after hitting the backstretch wall on the 104th lap of Saturday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 250, bringing out a red flag that lasted almost 9 1/2 minutes. She was to be kept in the hospital overnight for observation. Sutton had to be extricated from her truck, which ignited a grass fire as it rolled across the back infield. She was awake and alert after being examined at the infield care center, track officials said. Last year, Sutton's race ended abruptly with 13 laps to go when Chris Fontaine's truck hit the wall and crossed back into traffic. Sutton's truck hit Fontaine and flipped onto its top, spinning and skidding down the backstretch of the 1 1/2-mile tri-oval track before rolling back onto its wheels on the apron. She got out of the truck on her own, although she underwent a precautionary CAT scan several days after the race. Both crashes came in races where Sutton marked a significant achievement. She led the 32nd lap on Saturday, staying out while other racers pitted. That made her the first woman to lead a truck race since Deborah Renshaw led one lap on Oct. 29, 2005 at Atlanta. And in 2005, Sutton's crash came on the day she broke the series record for most starts by a woman. source / video This marks the second time in two weeks a driver of a NASCAR series has been hospitalized after hitting the wall on the left side of an oval race track. Two weeks ago at Kentucky, veteran Busch series driver Jeff Fuller suffered one of the hardest hits in Busch series history while trying to avoid a spinning Jason Leffler.
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