By Jerry Jordan, Editor
MEXICO CITY – After one charter plane was delayed getting to Charlotte, N.C. and another charter plane had engine issues that sent crews from multiple teams back to their race shops on Thursday, NASCAR canceled Xfinity Series practice and altered Cup Series activities for Friday.
The problems began when one of the charter planes coming from Singapore, was delayed, according to a post on X by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Then, on Thursday morning, reports began filtering in that a second plane had an issue on takeoff and passengers heard, “a boom.” At first, it was believed the plane had blown a tire but the pilot told NASCAR teams he believed it was birdstrike that damaged one of the engines.
The plane was heading down the runway at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and about to take flight, according to passengers on the plane, when it had to abort the takeoff. The aviation monitoring website, Flight Aware, confirmed delays for both planes heading to Mexico City; however, one of them, a Boeing 767, did take off at 3:56 p.m. EST. It landed safely at Mexico City Santa Lucía Airport, an airport south of the primary airport in Mexico City, where most commercial flights land.
According to Flight Aware, the planes are owned by Omni Air International, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A phone call made after hours was sent to a voicemail system where a message was left.
NASCAR driver Ryan Ellis and teams from Trackhouse, DGM Racing, Haas Factory Team (Xfinity) and Sam Hunt Racing teams were on that plane.
“Cancel that, plane attempted takeoff, plane made a small boom, we are headed back,” Ellis wrote in a series of posts on X.
He followed his first post with a photo of a firetruck next to the plane and a caption stating, “This doesn’t seem optimal.”
In another photo, a step ladder was seen on the starboard side of the plane near the engine.
Xfinity Series driver Austin Green also posted about the charters plane’s engine issue.
At first, NASCAR was unaware of the incident but quickly followed up and confirmed that team members were safe. They were working with the teams to get everyone to Mexico City.
Several teams were taking commercial flights; however, inclement weather across the United States caused even further delays for teams and drivers.
At 9:01 p.m. EST, NASCAR released the following statement, “Due to two aircraft issues that grounded multiple race teams in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday, NASCAR has adjusted the on-track schedule for this weekend’s activities at Mexico City’s Autoědromo Hermanos Rodriěguez.”
Below is the adjusted schedule:
Friday
- NASCAR Mexico Series race #1 will shift to 11:30 a.m. (MRN Radio)
- Two NASCAR Cup Series practices will shift to 2:05 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively (Amazon Prime, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- NASCAR Xfinity Series practice will move to Saturday
Saturday
- NASCAR Xfinity Series will hold a 50-minute practice at 9:05 a.m. (CW App)
- NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying will be held at 10:10 a.m. (CW App)
- NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying will shift to 12:05 p.m. (Amazon Prime, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- NASCAR Mexico Series race #2 will shift to 5 p.m. (MRN Radio)
Sunday’s schedule remains unchanged.