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A NASCAR driver got airborne and into the catchfence for the second time this week, with the latest incident occurring during the Camping World Truck Series race Thursday at Kentucky Speedway.
Ben Kennedy was running to the inside of David Gilliland down the front straightaway when Gilliland clipped the rear of Kennedy's truck, sending him nose-first into the Turn 1 wall and into the path of John Wes Townley.
The force of Townley hitting him flipped Kennedy's truck onto the top of the SAFER barrier. His momentum then continued to carry across the energy-absorbent wall with the front end of Kennedy's truck ripping a sizable hole in the catchfence. Kennedy's truck eventually landed back on the track.
Kennedy, 23, was not injured. He was evaluated and released by the infield medical center.
Scary crash for @BenKennedy11 at @KySpeedway! Driver climbs out A-OKAY! #NASCARonFS1 (5 laps to go) http://t.co/nJmJCjw8qk
— FOX SPORTS: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) July 10, 2015
"I'm fine," Kennedy told Fox Sports 1. "Thank the good Lord for keeping me safe and everything NASCAR does to keep these trucks safe because had this been years ago, I don't know if I would've gotten out of my truck under my own power.
"I got up on top of the wall for a while and you don't know what to expect up there. And falling down from the wall to ground was a pretty hard hit as well."
Waiting outside the care center to check on Kennedy's condition was Austin Dillon, whose car went flying into the catchfence on Monday during the Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Dillon's accident came just after the Coke Zero 400 had concluded, when several drivers came together on the frontstretch. Debris from Dillon's car sprayed into the grandstands with 13 spectators assessed for injuries. Eight fans declined any assistance, four received medical treatment and one was transported to a nearby hospital in stable condition, where they were treated and released.
No spectators were injured during Kennedy's wreck.
A car sailing into a catchfence is not an infrequent site at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway, restrictor-plate tracks where drives circle in high-speed packs. But they are a rarity on intermediate ovals such as Kentucky, which is 1.5-miles in length -- the most commonly sized track in NASCAR's three national divisions.
Because of the damage Kennedy's truck caused to the fencing, NASCAR called Thursday's race five laps from its scheduled 150-lap distance. Defending series champion Matt Crafton was leading at the time of the crash and declared the winner.
"I definitely felt that NASCAR made the right call and calling it," Crafton said. "Those two or three poles were taken out and the safety of the fans and everybody if something did happen could be even worse.
"It was really good to see that Ben got out and walked away under his own power. NASCAR does a lot with our safety and all our stuff that they do for us to be able to get out with crazy crashes like that."
Kennedy is the great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and the nephew of current CEO and chairman Brian France. His mother, Lesa France Kennedy, is the CEO of International Speedway Corp., which owns and operates several NASCAR tracks, including Daytona and Talladega.
Speedway Motorsports Inc. owns Kentucky, which hosts the Xfinity and Sprint Cup series events on Friday and Saturday nights. Track officials said all repairs will be completed before morning.