Photo credits: KLTV.com
The weekend for the No. 46 HScott Motorsports team heading to Texas Motor Speedway started off in a surprising manner after their hauler caught fire en route to the track on Thursday.
Michael Dennis Smith, who was driving the trailer on Interstate 20, told KLTV 7 TV, an ABC affiliate in East Texas, that he and a passenger did not suffer any injuries from the event. Smith was hauling two NASCAR stock cars in preparation for the racing weekend at Texas.
Officers responded to the scene, closing down traffic on the westbound side of the highway, according to KLTV 7.
Michael Annett is scheduled to race the No. 46 Chevrolet in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM). HScott Motorsports ensured fans, via Twitter, that this would not affect the team’s on-track plans.
The No. 46 hauler caught fire today on way to TMS. Happy to report everyone is safe. Expect 46 to race #AAATX500! pic.twitter.com/gUpLQQr3sE
— HScott Motorsports (@TeamHSM51) November 5, 2015
UPDATE: On Friday, the 46 team went to work transforming Justin Allgaier‘s backup car into Annett’s ride for Texas.
.@MichaelAnnett is getting comfortable in his new ride. Lots of work to do this morning. pic.twitter.com/JxEWudEPIo
— HSM Team 46 (@TeamHSM46) November 6, 2015
Annett also took to Twitter over the weekend to take his team, Allgaier and BK Racing for their help.
Want to say a special thank you to all the @Team_HSM guys for all of their hard work. #TeamMA
— Michael Annett (@MichaelAnnett) November 7, 2015
Need to thank @J_Allgaier and the guys from @BKRacing_2383 for helping out as well. #TeamMA pic.twitter.com/cydOSTkQQd
— Michael Annett (@MichaelAnnett) November 7, 2015
I can’t thank everybody in the @NASCAR garage enough especially the whole @Team_HSM organization. The guys and girls have worked so hard
— Michael Annett (@MichaelAnnett) November 8, 2015
It’s now time to go out today and get a finish they deserve for all this hard work. Thanks again everybody for all the well wishes!
— Michael Annett (@MichaelAnnett) November 8, 2015