By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor
A late-race crash in Saturday’s Loves RV Stop 250 left journeyman driver Greg van Alst with a fractured vertebrae.
Van Alst’s No. 20 CB Fabricating Chevrolet Silverado was in the middle of the pack when contact between Matt Crafton and Nick Sanchez sparked ‘the big one.’ In the chaos of the melee, the Young’s Motorsports truck was sent head-on into the outside wall in the Tri-Oval. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series machine hit the wall with such force that all four tires came off the ground.
The multi-truck left forced series officials to red flag the race for the clean-up and to attend to the drivers. The ARCA Menards Series winner was transported to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, AL for further evaluation. On Sunday morning Van Alst revealed through his Twitter account that he suffered a fractured vertebrae in the crash.
“Greg was transported to UAB Hosp following the wreck at Talladega, where he was diagnosed with a fractured vertebrae,” Van Alst’s account said in a Twitter post. “He was released early this morning. Thank you for the support and concern over the last hours and in the coming weeks as he recovers.”
Since his win in the ARCA season opener at Daytona Int’l Speedway earlier this year, Van Alst has had a long stretch of tough luck. Multiple wrecks led him to scaling back his driver-owner effort in the series.
Van Alst then joined Alpha Prime Racing, and Young’s where his bad luck has continued. Wrecks and mechanical issues have plagued the Anderson, IN native throughout 2023, no matter who he is driving for, or what series he is competing in.
It is currently unclear the severity of Van Alst’s injury and whether he will be sidelined for any races, or how long he could be sidelined. The next Truck Series race, the Baptist Health 200, is at Homestead-Miami Speedway is scheduled for Friday, October 21.
This story will be updated as more information is released.